To clasp or hold closely, especially in the arms, as in affection; embrace.

Origin: 1560–70; perh. < ON hugga to soothe, console; akin to OE hogian to care for. Probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse hugga, to comfort. Online Etymology Dictionary hug 1567, hugge "to embrace," perhaps from O.N. hugga "to comfort," from hugr "courage, mood," from P.Gmc. *hugjan, related to O.E. hycgan "to think, consider," Goth. hugs "mind, soul, thought." Other have noted the similarity in some senses to Ger. hegen "to foster, cherish," originally "to enclose with a hedge." The noun was originally (1617) a hold in wrestling.

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