Hag

Pronunciation

• IPA: /hæɡ/
• Rhymes: -æɡ

Middle English hagge, hegge 'demon, old woman', shortening of Old English hægtesse, hægtes ("harpy, witch"), from Proto-Germanic *hagatusjōn (compare Saterland Frisian Häkse ("witch"), Dutch heks, German Hexe ("witch")), compounds of (1) *hagaz 'able, skilled' (compare Old Norse hagr ("handy, skillful"), Middle High German behac ("pleasurable")), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱak- (compare Sanskrit (śaknóti, "he can")),

2003, Vladimir Orel, entry “*xaʒaz”, A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden: Brill, pages 149-50.

and (2) *tusjōn 'witch' (compare dialectal Norwegian tysja ("fairy, she-elf")).

1987, E. C. Polomé, R. Bergmann (editor), "Althochdeutsch hag(a)zussa 'Hexe': Versuch einer neuen Etymologie", Althochdeutsch 2 (Wörter und Namen. Forschungsgeschichte), pages 1107-1112.

Full definition of hag

Noun

1. A witch, sorceress, or enchantress; a wizard.
• unknown date GoldingSilenus that old hag.
2. (pejorative) An ugly old woman.
3. A fury; a she-monster.
4. A hagfish; an eel-like marine marsipobranch, , allied to the lamprey, with a suctorial mouth, labial appendages, and a single pair of gill openings.
5. A hagdon or shearwater.
6. An appearance of light and fire on a horse's mane or a man's hair.
7. The fruit of the hagberry, Prunus padus.

Synonyms

• (witch or sorceress)
• (ugly old woman) See also
• (fury or she-monster)
• (eel-like marine marsipobranch) borer, hagfish, sleepmarken, slime eel, sucker
• (hagdon or shearwater)
• (appearance of light and fire on mane or hair)
• (fruit of the hagberry)

Derived terms

• fag hag

Verb

1. (transitive) To harass; to weary with vexation.
• L'EstrangeHow are superstitious men hagged out of their wits with the fancy of omens.

Scots hag ("to cut"); compare English hack.

Noun

1. A small wood, or part of a wood or copse, which is marked off or enclosed for felling, or which has been felled.
• FairfaxThis said, he led me over hoults and hags;
  Through thorns and bushes scant my legs I drew.
2. A quagmire; mossy ground where peat or turf has been cut.

Anagrams

• agh, gah