General
prig
What does prig mean?
As a verb, to steal or to filch. To prig something is to make off with it quietly.
"They prigged the cloth from the tenter-fields under cover of darkmans."
Origin
Documented in Thomas Harman's 'A Caveat for Common Cursitors' (1566) and later canting glossaries through B.E. (1699) and Grose (1785). The modern sense of 'prig' as a self-righteous prude is a separate, later development.
Frequently asked questions
What does prig mean in thieves' cant?
It means a thief — the general word for one who steals, attested from Harman's 1566 glossary onward.
Is this the same as the modern word prig?
No. The modern 'prig' (a smug, moralising person) is an unrelated later sense; the cant 'prig' simply meant thief.
What is a prigger of prancers?
A horse-thief — 'prancers' was cant for horses, so the compound named one who specialised in stealing them.
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