erg

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɜːɡ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɝɡ/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)ɡ

Etymology 1

From Ancient Greek ἔργον (érgon, “work”). Doublet of ergon and work.

Noun

erg (plural ergs)

1. A unit of work or energy, being the amount of work done by a force of one dyne applied through a distance of one centimeter. Equal to 10⁻⁷ joules.

Derived terms

• foe (unit of energy)
• megerg/megalerg

Translations

Etymology 2

From French erg, from Algerian Arabic, from Arabic عِرْق (ʕirq).

Noun

erg (plural ergs or areg)

1. (geomorphology) A large desert region of sand dunes with little or no vegetation, especially in the Sahara.

Etymology 3

Shortening.

Noun

erg (plural ergs)

1. (rowing, slang) An ergometer.

Verb

erg (third-person singular simple present ergs, present participle erging, simple past and past participle erged)

1. (rowing, slang, transitive, intransitive) To use an ergometer.

   I erg every morning.

   She erged a steady state piece.

   • 2022, Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry, page 187:

     What I mean to sy is, the exercise is helping. Although I'm not sure how you erg properly at this stage, Pulling into the sternum would be problematic.

References

Further reading

• Erg (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• EGR, GER, GRE, Ger, Ger., Ger⁺⁶, Reg, ger, gre, reg

Catalan

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἔργον (érgon).

Noun

erg m (plural ergs)

1. erg (the unit of work or energy)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French erg.

Noun

erg m (plural ergs)

1. erg (large desert region)

Further reading

• “erg” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch arch, erch, from Old Dutch *arg, from Proto-West Germanic *arg, from Proto-Germanic *argaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛrx/, /ˈɛ.rəx/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: erg
• Rhymes: -ɛrx

Adjective

erg (comparative erger, superlative ergst)

1. serious, considerable, severe
2. awful, terrible

Inflection

Descendants

• → Caribbean Javanese: èreg

Adverb

erg

1. very

   Het appartement was erg klein.

   The apartment was very small.

2. much; very much

   Ik haat het zo erg.

   I hate it so much.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛʁɡ/

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Algerian Arabic, from Arabic عِرْق (ʕirq).

Noun

erg m (plural ergs)

1. erg (desert region)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἔργον (érgon, “work”).

Noun

erg m (plural ergs)

1. erg (unit of work done)

Further reading

• “erg”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Anagrams

• gré

Old Norse

Etymology

Borrowed from an Old Irish word, probably áirge (“milking place”) (modern Irish áirí).

Noun

erg n

1. a word of not entirely certain meaning, roughly shepherd's cottage or hill-pasture

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

erg

Wikipedia ^pl

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛrk/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛrk
• Syllabification: erg

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἔργον (érgon).

Noun

erg m inan

1. (physics) erg (unit of work or energy)

Declension

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Arabic عِرْق (ʕirq).

Noun

erg m inan

1. (geomorphology) erg (desert region)

Declension

Further reading

• erg in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French erg.

Noun

erg m (plural ergi)

1. erg

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from French erg.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈeɾɡ/
• Rhymes: -eɾɡ
• Syllabification: erg

Noun

erg m (plural ergs)

1. (geology, geography) erg

Further reading

• “erg”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014