Join free

dudgeon

English · Français

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

dudgeon¹

  • /ˈdʌd͡ʒən/

Rhymes with -ʌdʒən

Where it comes from

Uncertain:

* Perhaps the same as Etymology 2, below

* Perhaps from Welsh dygen (“anger, grudge”) (from dy- + cwyn (“complaint”)), though the OED rejects this.

* Possibly from dudgen (“trash, something worthless”).

* Possibly borrowed from Italian aduggiare (“to overshadow”), similar to the semantic development of umbrage.

noun

  1. uncountable A feeling of anger or resentment, especially haughty indignation. All gentle folks who owe a grudge / To any living thing, / Open your ears and stay your trudge / Whilst I in dudgeon sing.

dudgeon²

  • /ˈdʌd͡ʒən/

Rhymes with -ʌdʒən

Where it comes from

From Middle English dogeon, apparently from Anglo-Norman or Middle French, but the ultimate origin is obscure. Compare French douve (“stave”).

noun dudgeons

  1. obsolete A kind of wood used especially in the handles of knives; the root of the box tree. Turners and Cutlers, if I mistake not the matter, doe call this wood Dudgeon, wherewith they make Dudgeon hafted daggers.
  2. obsolete A hilt made of this wood. And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood
  3. archaic A dagger which has a dudgeon hilt.

Dudgeon³

Where it comes from

English and Scottish surname, perhaps related to the noun dudgeon (sense 1) (“kind of wood used in a hilt”). Or, from a diminutive of Dodge.

proper noun Dudgeons

  1. A surname.

Translations

Every language

noun feeling of anger or resentment, especially haughty indignation

DeutschGroll, Empörung, Wut, Zorn, Entrüstung, Verärgerung

noun wood of the box tree

DeutschBuchsbaum, Buchsbaumholz, Buchs

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"dudgeon." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/dudgeon. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

dudgeon. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/dudgeon

Chicago

"dudgeon." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/dudgeon.

BibTeX
@misc{dudgeon_2026,
  title = {dudgeon},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/dudgeon},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}