grunt

See also: Grunt, grünt, and gruńt

English

Etymology

From Middle English grunten, from Old English grunnettan (“to grunt”), from Proto-West Germanic *grunnattjan, from Proto-Germanic *grunnatjaną (“to grunt”), frequentative of Proto-Germanic *grunnōną (“to grunt”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrun- (“to shout”).

Cognate with German grunzen (“to grunt”), Danish grynte (“to grunt”). The noun senses are all instances of zero derivation from the verb.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɹʌnt/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /ɡɹʊnt/
• Rhymes: -ʌnt

Noun

grunt (plural grunts)

1. A short snorting sound, often to show disapproval, or used as a reply when one is reluctant to speak.
   • 1861, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, Chapter X:

     The stranger, with a comfortable kind of grunt over his pipe, put his legs up on the settle that he had to himself.

2. The snorting cry of a pig.
3. Any fish of the perciform family Haemulidae.
4. A person who does ordinary and boring work.

   Synonyms: gofer, lackey, peon

5. (US, military slang) An infantry soldier.

   Coordinate term: pogue

   • 1979, Gustav Hasford, The Short-Timers, New York: Bantam Books, published 1980, →ISBN, page 39:

     The poges stare at the grunts as though the grunts were Hell's Angels at the ballet.

   • 1984, Charles Robert Anderson, The Grunts, Berkley Books, →ISBN, page xii:

     The events described are those encountered by only 160 men, though the adversity recounted is representative of that experienced by all grunts in Vietnam.

   • 1986, James Cameron, Aliens, spoken by Burke (Paul Reiser):

     He can't make that kind of decision. He's just a grunt!

6. (slang) The amount of power of which a vehicle is capable.
   • 1992, Autocar & Motor, volume 192, page 61:

     The engine might not possess quite as much grunt as the later 24v six, but it delivers invigorating performance […]

   • 2006 February, Torque, page 56:

     With this much grunt, it is surprising that the engine is relatively quiet.

   • 2021 February, The Road Ahead, Brisbane, page 55, column 2:

     The lack of bottom-end grunt presents as a particular problem in hilly terrain where the five-speed manual gearbox really earns its keep.

7. (Canada, US) A dessert of steamed berries and dough, usually blueberries; blueberry grunt.

   Synonyms: fungy, fungee

Derived terms

• death grunt
• grungy
• grunt boy
• grunt-horn
• grunt level
• grunt-level
• gruntlike
• gruntling
• gruntometer
• gruntspeak
• gruntulous
• grunt work
• Margaret grunt
• margate grunt

Translations

short, snorting sound

• Bulgarian: сумтене n (sumtene)
• Czech: zavrčení n, zabručení n
• Danish: fnys n
• Dutch: grom (nl)
• Finnish: murahdus (fi)
• French: grognement (fr)
• Galician: cuincho m, guinco m, gorlido m, cuiña f, greñido m
• German: Grunzer m, Stöhnen (de) n
• Greek: γρυλισμός (el) m (grylismós), γρυλλισμός m (gryllismós), γρύλισμα (el) n (grýlisma)
• Hungarian: röfög (hu)
• Ido: gruno (io)
• Irish: gnúsacht f
• Italian: grugnito (it) m
• Latin: grunnītus m
• Māori: horu, horuhoru
• Polish: chrząknięcie (pl) n
• Portuguese: grunido m
• Romanian: groh (ro) n, mârâit (ro) n, mormăit (ro) n
• Russian: ворча́ние (ru) n (vorčánije), бурча́ние (ru) n (burčánije)
• Spanish: gruñido (es) m
• Swedish: grymtning (sv) c
• Turkish: homurdanma, homurtu (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: اوفكه (ufke, öfke)

cry of a pig

• Basque: kurrinka
• Bulgarian: грухтене n (gruhtene)
• Catalan: gruny (ca) m
• Czech: chrochtání n, zachrochtání n
• Danish: grynt n
• Dutch: knor (nl) m
• Finnish: röhkäisy (fi)
• Galician: cuincho m, cuiña f
• German: Grunzen (de) m
• Greek: γρυλισμός (el) m (grylismós), γρυλλισμός m (gryllismós), γρύλισμα (el) n (grýlisma)
• Hungarian: röfögés (hu)
• Ido: gruno (io)
• Italian: grugnito (it) m
• Latin: grunnītus m
• Māori: ngō, horuhoru
• Polish: chrumkanie (pl) n
• Portuguese: grunido m
• Romanian: grohăit (ro) n
• Russian: хрю́канье (ru) n (xrjúkanʹje)
• Swedish: grymtning (sv) c

fish of the family Haemulidae

• Finnish: murisija
• German: Grunzer m
• Spanish: burro (es) m, ronco (es) m
• Swedish: grymtfisk c
• Tagalog: gonggong
• Vietnamese: (cá) sạo

a person who does ordinary and boring work

• German: Hucker (de) m, Handlanger (de) m, Hilfsarbeiter (de) m, Ungelernter m, Hiwi (de) m (pejorative)
• Greek: ανειδίκευτος εργάτης m (aneidíkeftos ergátis)
• Spanish: currito
• Swedish: hantlangare (sv) c

an infantry soldier

• Danish: fodtusse c
• Finnish: nurmipora
• French: bidasse (fr) f, troufion (fr) m, griveton (fr) m (dated)
• German: Frontschwein (de) n, Landser (de) m
• Hebrew: רַגְלִי (he) m (raglí)
• Spanish: machaca (es)

(slang) the amount of power of which a vehicle is capable

• Bulgarian: мощност (bg) f (moštnost)
• German: Wumms (de) m, Pfeffer (de) m
• Romanian: putere (ro) f

Verb

grunt (third-person singular simple present grunts, present participle grunting, simple past and past participle grunted)

1. (intransitive, of a person) To make a grunt or grunts.
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

     to grunt and sweat under a weary life

   • 2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 186:

     The silhouette sharpens and fades as the carving is moved before the flames of the hearth, its maker grunts in perfect imitation of the ancestor - a human-lioness in oestrus.

2. (intransitive, of a pig) To make a grunt or grunts.
3. (intransitive, UK, slang) To break wind; to fart.

   Who just grunted?

Derived terms

• grunter

Translations

of a person: to make a grunt or grunts

• Aromanian: gurnjescu
• Bulgarian: сумтя (bg) (sumtja)
• Czech: vrčet (cs) impf, zavrčet (cs) pf, bručet (cs) impf, zabručet pf, odseknout pf
• Danish: fnyse
• Finnish: murahtaa (fi) (single grunt), murista (fi) (multiple grunts)
• French: grogner (fr)
• Galician: rosmar (gl), roñar (gl), moumear (gl), guincar, cuincar (gl)
• German: grunzen (de)
• Greek: γρυλίζω (el) (grylízo), γρυλλίζω (el) (gryllízo)

  Ancient Greek: γρῡλίζω (grūlízō), γρυλλίζω (grullízō)

• Hungarian: felmordul (hu), morog (hu)
• Ido: grunar (io)
• Latin: grunniō
• Māori: ngengere, ngunguru, whēnanau, ngō, kumukumu, ngō, horu, ngengeri
• Middle English: grunten
• Norman: gronner
• Old English: grunnian, grunnettan
• Portuguese: grunir
• Romanian: grohăi (ro), mârâi (ro), mormăi (ro)
• Russian: ворча́ть (ru) (vorčátʹ), бурча́ть (ru) (burčátʹ)
• Spanish: gruñir (es)
• Swedish: grymta (sv)

of a pig: to make a grunt or grunts

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Basque: kurrinkatu
• Bulgarian: грухтя (gruhtja)
• Catalan: grunyir (ca)
• Czech: chrochtat impf, zachrochtat pf
• Danish: grynte
• Esperanto: grunti
• Faroese: rína
• Finnish: röhkäistä (fi) (single grunt), röhkiä (fi) (multiple grunts)
• French: grogner (fr)
• Galician: cuincar (gl), cuiñar (gl), roñar (gl), louriñar, gorlar (gl), arruar, rellar
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: grunzen (de)
• Greek: γρυλίζω (el) (grylízo), γρυλλίζω (el) (gryllízo)

  Ancient Greek: γρῡλίζω (grūlízō), γρυλλίζω (grullízō)

• Hungarian: röfög (hu)
• Ido: grunar (io)
• Italian: grugnire (it)
• Khmer: ង៉េកៗ (ngeek-ngeek)
• Latin: grunniō
• Macedonian: гровта (grovta)
• Māori: ngengeri, horuhoru, ngō
• Middle English: grunten
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norman: gronner
• Old English: grunnian, grunnettan
• Portuguese: grunir
• Romanian: grohăi (ro)
• Russian: хрю́кать (ru) (xrjúkatʹ)
• Spanish: gruñir (es)
• Swedish: grymta (sv)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: ủn ỉn (vi)

See also

The frequentative form gruntle.

Czech

Etymology

Inherited from Old Czech grunt, from Middle High German grunt, from Old High German grunt (modern German Grund).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɡrunt]

Noun

grunt m inan

1. (dialectal) base, core

   Synonym: základ

   vzít z gruntu ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

2. (archaic) farm

   Synonym: statek

Declension

Declension of grunt (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	grunt	grunty
genitive	gruntu	gruntů
dative	gruntu	gruntům
accusative	grunt	grunty
vocative	grunte	grunty
locative	gruntě, gruntu	gruntech
instrumental	gruntem	grunty

Derived terms

• gruntovat

Further reading

• “grunt”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “grunt”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “grunt”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

Middle English

Verb

grunt

1. alternative form of grunten

Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

grunt

1. neuter singular of grunn

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

grunt

1. neuter singular of grunn

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *grundu, from Proto-Germanic *grunduz.

Noun

grunt m

1. ground

Inflection

Declension of grunt (masculine a-stem noun)

case	singular	plural
nominative	grunt	grunda
accusative	grunt	grunda
genitive	grundes	grundo
dative	grunde	grundon

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: gront
  • Dutch: grond
    • Afrikaans: grond
    • Berbice Creole Dutch: grondo
    • Jersey Dutch: grânt
    • Negerhollands: grond, gron, grun
    • Skepi Creole Dutch: groond
  • Limburgish: gróndj

Further reading

• “grunt”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *grundu, from Proto-Germanic *grunduz.

Noun

grunt m

1. ground
2. root
3. hollow

Declension

Declension of grunt (masculine a-stem)

case	singular	plural
nominative	grunt	gruntā, grunta
accusative	grunt	gruntā, grunta
genitive	gruntes	grunto
dative	grunte	gruntum
instrumental	gruntu	—

Derived terms

• gruntfrost

Descendants

• Middle High German: grunt
  • Cimbrian: grund, grumf (< with epenthetic -f- *grumfþuz)
  • German: Grund
  • Luxembourgish: Grond
  • → Old Polish: grunt
    • Polish: grunt, gront, grąt (Middle Polish), gruńt (Southern Greater Poland), grońt (Kuyavia, Ciechocinek), grónt (Zagórze)
      • → Kashubian: gruńt, grëńt
    • Silesian: grōnt
  • → Russian: грунт (grunt)
    • → Serbo-Croatian: грунт
  • Yiddish: גרונט (grunt)

References

• Köbler, Gerhard (2014), “grunt”, in Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch‎^[1] (in German), 6th edition

Old Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle High German grunt, from Old High German grunt. First attested in 1402.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /ɡrunt/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ɡrunt/

Noun

grunt m animacy unattested

1. ground; field; land
   • 1874 [1402], Monumenta Medii Aevi Historica res gestas Poloniae illustrantia. Pomniki Dziejowe Wieków Średnich do objaśnienia rzeczy polskich służące‎^[2], volume XVII, page 81:

     Iohannes... conuallem scilicet vlg. grunt dictam... resignauit

     [Iohannes... conuallem scilicet vlg. grunt dictam... resignauit]

2. (attested in Silesia) core (basis of a given thing, foundation)
   • 1956 [Middle of the 15th century], Jerzy Woronczak, editor, Teksty polskie w rękopisie nr 43 Biblioteki Kapitulnej we Wrocławiu z połowy XV wieku‎^[3], Silesia, page 56v:

     Dixit Paulus Petro: Pax tecum, fundamentum, grunt, ecclesiarum et pastor ovium

     [Dixit Paulus Petro: Pax tecum, fundamentum, grunt, ecclesiarum et pastor ovium]

Derived terms

adjectives

• gruntowny

Related terms

adverbs

• gruntownie

Descendants

• Polish: grunt, gront, grąt (Middle Polish), gruńt (Southern Greater Poland), grońt (Kuyavia, Ciechocinek), grónt (Zagórze)
  • → Kashubian: gruńt, grëńt
• Silesian: grōnt

References

• Boryś, Wiesław (2005), “grunt”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, →ISBN
• Mańczak, Witold (2017), “grunt”, in Polski słownik etymologiczny (in Polish), Kraków: Polska Akademia Umiejętności, →ISBN
• Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000), “grunt”, in Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish)
• Sławski, Franciszek (1958-1965), “grunt”, in Jan Safarewicz, Andrzej Siudut, editors, Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego [Etymological dictionary of the Polish language] (in Polish), Kraków: Towarzystwo Miłośników Języka Polskiego
• Bożena Sieradzka-Baziur, et al., editors (2011–2015), “grunt”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN

Polish

Alternative forms

• gront, grąt (Middle Polish)
• gruńt (Southern Greater Poland)
• grońt (Kuyavia, Ciechocinek)
• grónt (Zagórze)

Etymology

Inherited from Old Polish grunt.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡrunt/

• (Middle Polish) IPA^(key): /ˈɡrunt/
• (Lesser Poland):
  • (Przemyśl) IPA^(key): [ˈɡrunt]
  • (Goral):
    • (Zagórze) IPA^(key): [ˈɡrunt]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -unt
• Syllabification: grunt
• Homophone: Grunt

Noun

grunt m inan (diminutive gruncik, related adjective gruntowy)

1. (countable) ground (arable soil or earth)

   Synonyms: gleba, rola, ziemia

2. (countable) ground (surface of the earth in a specific place)

   Synonym: ziemia

3. (chiefly in the plural, officialese) ground (area of land that is owned by someone)

   Synonym: teren

4. (uncountable, masonry) mortar; primer (substance that binds strongly to the substrate, used as a base for painting, plastering and polishing)

   Synonym: zaprawa

5. (uncountable, literary) base; primer (previously prepared basis for certain actions; essential element of something) [with dla (+ genitive) or pod (+ accusative) ‘for what’]

   Synonym: podstawa

6. (uncountable, literary) foundation; core (certain ideological, cultural whole, characteristic of a specific country or social environment)
7. (countable) ground (bottom of a body of water)
8. (countable, obsolete) foundation (bottom of a construction)

   Synonym: fundament

9. (countable, obsolete) core (reason or cause for something)
10. (Middle Polish) world

    Synonym: świat

11. (Middle Polish) background

    Synonym: tło

12. (Middle Polish) source; documentation; evidence (document or fact that can be relied upon)
13. (Middle Polish) certainty, solidness
14. (Middle Polish) source (place where something arises)
15. (Middle Polish) etymology; etymon

    Synonym: źródłosłów

16. (Middle Polish) original version of something

    Synonym: oryginał

17. (Middle Polish) pattern, symbol
18. (Middle Polish) prepositional phrase
19. (Middle Polish) fundament; Further details are uncertain.
    • 1532, Bartłomiej z Bydgoszczy, Słownik łacińsko-polski‎^[4], page 62:

      Fundamentum, grvnth, początek

      [Fundamentum, grunt, początek]

    • 1564, J. Mączyński, Lexicon‎^[5], page 400b:

      Solum, Dno/ grunt/ ziemiá.

      [Solum, Dno/ grunt/ ziemia.]

    • 1564, J. Mączyński, Lexicon‎^[6], pages 451c, 140b [2 r.]:

      Terrenum, Dno/ grunt álbo poległość ziemie.

      [Terrenum, Dno/ grunt albo poległość ziemie.]

    • 1588, A. Calepinus, Dictionarium decem linguarum‎^[7], pages 441a, 990b:

      Fundum ‒ Grunt, dno.

      [Fundum ‒ Grunt, dno.]

Usage notes

The nominative and accusative plural form grunta is dated.

Declension

Declension of grunt

	singular	plural
nominative	grunt	grunty/grunta
genitive	gruntu	gruntów
dative	gruntowi	gruntom
accusative	grunt	grunty/grunta
instrumental	gruntem	gruntami
locative	gruncie	gruntach
vocative	gruncie	grunty/grunta

Derived terms

adjectives

• gruntowny

interjections

• grunt to

nouns

• grunt pod nogami
• neutralny grunt
• podatny grunt
• żyzny grunt

particles

• w gruncie rzeczy
• z gruntu

phrases

• grunt pali się pod nogami

verbs

• stać na twardym gruncie impf
• stanąć na gruncie pf, stawać na gruncie impf
• stanąć na twardym gruncie pf, stawać na twardym gruncie impf
• wybadać grunt pf, badać grunt impf

Related terms

adverbs

• gruntownie

nouns

• gruntowność

Descendants

• → Kashubian: gruńt, grëńt

Further reading

• “grunt”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[8] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “grunt”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[9] (in Polish)
• Maria Renata Mayenowa, et al., editors (2010-2023), “grunt”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
• “GRUNT”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 25.05.2009
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814), “grunt”, in Słownik języka polskiego
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861), “grunt”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “grunt”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 921
• Aleksander Saloni (1899), “grunt”, in “Lud wiejski w okolicy Przeworska”, in M. Arct, E. Lubowski, editors, Wisła : miesięcznik gieograficzno-etnograficzny‎^[10] (in Polish), volume 13, Warsaw: Artur Gruszecki, page 238
• Józefa Kobylińska (2001), “grunt”, in Marian Kucała, editor, Słownik gwary gorczańskiej (zagórzańskiej)‎^[11] (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Akademii Pedagogicznej, →ISBN, page 46

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from German Grund.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡrûnt/

Noun

grȕnt m inan (Cyrillic spelling гру̏нт)

1. (regional) plot of land, lot

Declension

Declension of grunt

	singular	plural
nominative	grȕnt	grùntovi
genitive	grunta	gruntova
dative	gruntu	gruntovima
accusative	grunt	gruntove
vocative	grunte	gruntovi
locative	gruntu	gruntovima
instrumental	gruntom	gruntovima

Swedish

Adjective

grunt

1. indefinite neuter singular of grund

Adverb

grunt

1. shallowly

   gentemot såväl grundt rationalistiska som känslosamt svärmiska religiösa riktningar.

   towards both shallowly rationalistic and emotionally fanatical religious tendencies.