Igelkott is the Swedish word for hedgehog, the small spiky mammals which like to hide under bushes and in piles of twigs in gardens.

While hedgehogs are widely considered to be relatively cute animals, it’s different to think of a creature less cute than the igel, or leech, where the first half of the word igelkott comes from.

Igel comes originally from the Old Swedish word igil, which in turn has its roots in a Proto-Indo-European word meaning ‘snake’. You’ll spot similar words in Icelandic (igla), Danish (igle), Norwegian (igle) and German (Egle).

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So, what do snakes, leeches and hedgehogs have in common? They all have something sharp or spiky which can cause injury, whether that’s the teeth of a viper, the mouth of a leech, or the spines on a hedgehog.

What about the second half of the word, kott? This has nothing to do with kött, the Swedish word for meat, rather kotte, the word for a pinecone. Both kott and kotte originally referred to a small round thing, and other related words which may have the same root are kudde, a pillow, and kuta, a baby seal (also quite round).

So essentially, igelkott means a small, spiky round ball. Which is a pretty accurate description of a hedgehog, really.

In some areas of Sweden, you’ll also hear them referred to as a piggsvin (“spike-pig”) or a pinnso (“stick-sow”), which is closer to other Scandinavian words for the creatures: pindsvin in Danish, pinnsvin in Norwegian Bokmål and piggsvin in Norwegian Nynorsk.

Example sentences:

Igelkottsveckan pågår varje år, där WWF samlar in observationer av igelkottar i Sverige.

Hedgehog week takes place each year, when the WWF collects observational data of hedgehogs in Sweden.

Fixa en liten hörna i trädgården med gamla löv, kvistar och grenar, där igelkotten kan bygga sitt bo.

Put old leaves, twigs and branches in a little corner of your garden where the hedgehog can build its nest.