Late 18th century; earliest use found in Georg Forster (1754–1794), traveller and naturalist. After South African Dutch aardvarkaardvark; compare earlier earth hog.
Definition of earth-pig in US English:
earth-pig
noun
The aardvark, Orycteropus afer.
Origin
Late 18th century; earliest use found in Georg Forster (1754–1794), traveller and naturalist. After South African Dutch aardvark aardvark; compare earlier earth hog.