wag
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English waggen, probably from Old English wagian (“to wag, wave, shake”) with reinforcement from Old Norse vaga (“to wag, waddle”); both from Proto-Germanic *wagōną (“to wag”). Related to English way.
The verb may be regarded as an iterative or emphatic form of waw (verb), which is often nearly synonymous; it was used, e.g., of a loose tooth. Parallel formations from the same root are the Old Norse vagga feminine, cradle (Swedish vagga, Danish vugge), Swedish vagga (“to rock a cradle”), Dutch wagen (“to move”), early modern German waggen (dialectal German wacken) to waver, totter. Compare waggle, verb
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
wag (third-person singular simple present wags, present participle wagging, simple past and past participle wagged)
- To swing from side to side, such as of an animal's tail, or someone's head, to express disagreement or disbelief.
- 1613, William Shakespeare; [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene i]:
- No discerner durst wag his tongue in censure.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Bible Jeremiah:18–16:
- Every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.
- (UK, Australia, slang) To play truant from school.
- 1848, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, xxii
- "My misfortunes all began in wagging, Sir; but what could I do, exceptin' wag?" "Excepting what?" said Mr. Carker. "Wag, Sir. Wagging from school." "Do you mean pretending to go there, and not going?" said Mr. Carker. "Yes, Sir, that's wagging, Sir."
- 1901, William Sylvester Walker, In the Blood, i. 13
- They had "wagged it" from school, as they termed it, which..meant truancy in all its forms.
- 2005, Arctic Monkeys, I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor, “Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts”:
- […] she wagged English and Science just to go in his car […]
- 1848, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, xxii
- (obsolete) To be in action or motion; to move; progress.
- c. 1598–1600, William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)]:
- "Thus we may see," quoth he, "how the world wags."
- (obsolete) To go; to depart.
- 1623, William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor:
- I will provoke him to 't, or let him wag.
Coordinate terms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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See also[edit]
Noun[edit]
wag (plural wags)
- An oscillating movement.
- The wag of my dog's tail expresses happiness.
- A witty person.
- 1922, Robert C. Benchley, chapter XXII, in Love Conquers All, Henry Holt & Company, page 111:
- “A nice, juicy steak,” he is said to have called for, “French fries, apple pie and a cup of coffee.” It is probable that he really said “a coff of cuppee,” however, as he was a wag of the first water and loved a joke as well as the next king.
- 2019 December 8, Jason Farago, “A (Grudging) Defense of the $120,000 Banana”, in The New York Times[1], ISSN 0362-4331:
- By Wednesday it had already won art-world notoriety, and on Saturday it achieved a public visibility that any artist would envy, after a self-promoting wag tore the banana off the wall and gobbled it up.
- 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 70:
- Many people can't work from home - as one wag observed: "Well, I would, but the wife doesn't like me laying tarmac in the front room!"
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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See also[edit]
References[edit]
- The Oxford English Dictionary, (1989) The Oxford English Dictionary, Accessed 23 Feb. 2006.
- Jonathon Green, "wag," The Cassell Dictionary of Slang, (1998) p. 1257.
Anagrams[edit]
Afrikaans[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Dutch wacht, from Middle Dutch wachte, from Old Dutch wahta (“watch, sentry, guard”), from Proto-Germanic *wahtwō (“watch, vigil”).
Noun[edit]
wag (plural wagte)
Derived terms[edit]
Etymology 2[edit]
From Dutch wachten, from Middle Dutch wachten (“to watch, guard, keep watch, wait”), from Old Dutch *wahton, derived from wahta.
Verb[edit]
wag (present wag, present participle wagtende, past participle gewag)
- (intransitive) to wait [+ vir (for)]
German[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
wag
Middle English[edit]
Noun[edit]
wag
- Alternative form of wage
Old English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Proto-Germanic *waigaz.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
wāg m
- wall (of a building or a house)
Declension[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
Old Saxon[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Proto-West Germanic *wāg, from Proto-Germanic *wēgaz.
Noun[edit]
wāg m
References[edit]
- "wāg" in Köbler, Gerhard, Altsächsisches Wörterbuch (5th edition 2014)
Polish[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
wag f
Tagalog[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Contraction of huwag, also a colloquial pronunciation spelling.
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
wag
- (colloquial) Alternative form of huwag
Interjection[edit]
wag
- (colloquial) Alternative form of huwag.
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