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Today the word 'pug' is most commonly known as a breed of dog, but in the 16th century it was used as a term of endearment.

If you wanted to insult someone 300 years ago, the best way was to call them a 'wattle-head', or a 'shallow-pate'. And having sex has previously been known as 'commixtion', 'mollocking' and even 'poop noddy'.

All of these terms are among the 800,000 now available online on the Historical Thesaurus that spans more than 1,000 years of the English language. 

The Historical Thesaurus, created by the University of Glasgow, features 800,000 words from 1,000 years of the English language. More than 230 linguists have spent 50 years compiling the list. Work on the list began on 15 January 1965, and, according to the university, it is the world's only complete historical thesaurus online

The Historical Thesaurus of English was created by the University of Glasgow.

More than 230 linguists have spent the past 50 years - to the day - compiling the list, and the online site is a digital version of the Historical Thesaurus of English Project, which was published in 2009.

Work on the list began on 15 January 1965, and, according to the university, it is the world's only complete historical thesaurus published in any language.

Words on the list have been categorised, and people can either search for individual words or browse categories.

For example, searching for the term 'sweetheart' reveals the current and historical variations under the 'terms of endearment' category.

Other terms in this category include 'my ding-ding', which first appeared in the 1564 'Dialogue against the Fever Pestilence' work by William Bullein.

Pug was used from around 1580, and as well as being a term of endearment, was later used to describe a prostitute.

Meanwhile, 'flitter-mouse' was used in Ben Jonson's comedy play, The Alchemist, in 1612, in which Mr Jonson wrote: 'My fine Flitter-mouse, My Bird o' the night.'

Other categories reveal varies ways to call someone stupid, including idiot, scant-brain, wattle-head, shallow-pate and underhead. 

The term 'flitter-mouse' was first used in Ben Jonson's comedy play, The Alchemist, in 1612, in which Mr Jonson wrote: 'My fine Flitter-mouse, My Bird o' the night.' It was used as a term of endearment. This image shows actors performing in Mr Jonson's play, painted by Johann Zoffany in 1770 

Other categories reveal varies ways to call someone stupid, including, scant-brain, wattle-head and underhead. Each word is accompanied by its dates of recorded use and an origin (pictured)

The term wedlock, to describe marriage, was first used in around 1225 and has since become common place in literature and law.

Other words for marriage include spousage, which was used throughout the 15th century, shackledom from 1771, and bed-match.

Bed-match appeared in 1582 in poetry from the First Four Books of Aeneis.

During marriage, people may have taken part in mixtion, copulation and 'venus play' - all of which were ways of describing sex during the 15th and 16th century.

The term wedlock, to describe marriage, was first used in around 1225 and has since become common place in literature and law. The official description from the Oxford English Dictionary is pictured. Other words for marriage include spousage, which was used throughout 15th century, shackledom from 1771, and bed-match

During marriage, people may have taken part in mixtion, copulation and 'venus play' - all of which were ways of describing sex during the 15th and 16th century (left).  And when a marriage ended, divorce was also referred to as asundering, singling and shedding, which may have led to fighting - or luctation and decertation (right)

Although 'pug' is a breed of dog, it was used from around 1580 as term of endearment, and was later used to describe a prostitute

And when a marriage ended, divorce was also referred to as asundering, singling and shedding.

Asunder first appeared in 1881 and is still often used in marriage ceremonies.

Divorce may have led to fighting, which was previously known as luctation, decertation and dimication.

Moving on to body parts, the thesaurus reveals the numerous ways in which female and male genitals have been referred to throughout history.

These include 'honey-pot', 'privy chose' and 'pocket-book' for female organs, while male organs were once referred to as a swipe, pencil and putz.

Linguistics professor David Crystal recently used the historical thesaurus to trace the history of the ways the English language has described alcohol.

In his new book, the academic revealed that the vocabulary of drinking is richer than almost any other topic - and unites English-speakers across barriers of class, age and gender.

During the Anglo-Saxon period, the words 'drunken' and 'fordrunken' were the most common ways of describing alcoholic excess, Professor Crystal writes in the book Words in Time and Place. 

Linguistics professor David Crystal recently used the historical thesaurus to trace the history of the ways the English language has described alcohol. This 15th-century manuscript shows how excessive drinking has always been popular. The earliest slang included the 14th-century 'cup-shotten', and 'inebriate' from 1497

However, in time there developed 'a universal trend to avoid stating the obvious', according to the author, and English-speakers began to resort to euphemisms when they discussed drinking.

The earliest slang terms included the 14th-century 'cup-shotten', meaning overcome with liquor, 'inebriate', dating back to 1497, and 'bousy' - a forerunner of the modern 'booze', borrowed from Dutch and first recorded in 1529. 

Dr Marc Alexander, director of the project, said: 'The Historical Thesaurus of English is a unique resource charting the semantic development of the huge and varied vocabulary of English.

'We hope that this will be of great use to historians, writers and linguists, but we also encourage anyone with an interest in the English language and its history - or just the history of the English-speaking peoples - to explore this fascinating resource.'