wag

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See also: Wag, WAG, and wäg

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]

  • IPA(key): /wæɡ/
  • Audio (AU)(file)
  • Rhymes: -æɡ

Verb[edit]

wag (third-person singular simple present wags, present participle wagging, simple past and past participle wagged)

  1. To swing from side to side, such as of an animal's tail, or someone's head, to express disagreement or disbelief.
  3. (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 […]
  4. (obsolete) To be in action or motion; to move; progress.
  5. (obsolete) To go; to depart.

Coordinate terms[edit]

  • (swing from side to side): nod, no

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

Noun[edit]

wag (plural wags)

  1. An oscillating movement.
    The wag of my dog's tail expresses happiness.
  2. 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]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

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)

  1. guard
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)

  1. (intransitive) to wait [+ vir (for)]

German[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

wag

  1. singular imperative of wagen
  2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of wagen

Middle English[edit]

Noun[edit]

wag

  1. Alternative form of wage

Old English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Germanic *waigaz.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /wɑːɡ/, [wɑːɣ]

Noun[edit]

wāg m

  1. wall (of a building or a house)

Declension[edit]

Declension of wag (strong a-stem)
Case Singular Plural
nominative wāg wāgas
accusative wāg wāgas
genitive wāges wāga
dative wāge wāgum

Derived terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

  • Middle English: wagh, wough

Old Saxon[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-West Germanic *wāg, from Proto-Germanic *wēgaz.

Noun[edit]

wāg m

  1. wave
  2. flood

References[edit]

Polish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /vak/
  • Rhymes: -ak
  • Syllabification: wag

Noun[edit]

wag f

  1. genitive plural of waga

Tagalog[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Contraction of huwag, also a colloquial pronunciation spelling.

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

wag

  1. (colloquial) Alternative form of huwag

Interjection[edit]

wag

  1. (colloquial) Alternative form of huwag.
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