Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Hag
Hag
(hăg)
, Noun.
[OE.
hagge
, hegge
, witch, hag, AS. hægtesse
; akin to OHG. hagazussa
, G. hexe
, D. heks
, Dan. hex
, Sw. häxa
. The first part of the word is prob. the same as E. haw
, hedge
, and the orig. meaning was perh., wood woman, wild woman. √12.] 1.
A witch, sorceress, or enchantress; also, a wizard.
[Obs.]
“[Silenus] that old hag.” Golding.
2.
An ugly old woman.
Dryden.
3.
A fury; a she-monster.
Crashaw.
4.
(Zool.)
An eel-like marine marsipobranch (
Myxine glutinosa
), allied to the lamprey. It has a suctorial mouth, with labial appendages, and a single pair of gill openings. It is the type of the order Hyperotreta
. Called also hagfish
, borer
, slime eel
, sucker
, and sleepmarken
. 5.
(Zool.)
The hagdon or shearwater.
6.
An appearance of light and fire on a horse’s mane or a man's hair.
Blount.
Hag moth
(Zool.)
, a moth (
– Phobetron pithecium
), the larva of which has curious side appendages, and feeds on fruit trees. Hag's tooth
(Naut.)
, an ugly irregularity in the pattern of matting or pointing.
Hag
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Hagged
(hăgd)
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Hagging
.] To harass; to weary with vexation.
How are superstitious men
hagged
out of their wits with the fancy of omens. L'Estrange.
Hag
,Noun.
[Scot.
hag
to cut; cf. E. hack
.] 1.
A small wood, or part of a wood or copse, which is marked off or inclosed for felling, or which has been felled.
This said, he led me over hoults and
Through thorns and bushes scant my legs I drew.
hags
;Through thorns and bushes scant my legs I drew.
Fairfax.
2.
A quagmire; mossy ground where peat or turf has been cut.
Dugdale.
Webster 1828 Edition
Hag
HAG
, n.1.
An ugly old woman; as an old hag of threescore.2.
A witch; a sorceress; an enchantress.3.
A fury; a she-monster.4.
A cartilaginous fish, the Gastrobranchus, which enters other fishes and devours them. It is about five or six inches long, and resembles a small eel. It is allied to the lamprey.5.
Appearances of light and fire on horses' manes or men's hair, were formerly called hags.HAG
,Verb.
T.
1.
To tire; to weary with vexation.Definition 2024
Hag
hag
hag
English
Noun
hag (plural hags)
- A witch, sorceress, or enchantress; a wizard.
- (Can we date this quote?) Golding
- [Silenus] that old hag.
- (Can we date this quote?) Golding
- (pejorative) An ugly old woman.
- A fury; a she-monster.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Crashaw to this entry?)
- A hagfish; an eel-like marine marsipobranch, Myxine glutinosa, allied to the lamprey, with a suctorial mouth, labial appendages, and a single pair of gill openings.
- A hagdon or shearwater.
- An appearance of light and fire on a horse's mane or a man's hair.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Blount to this entry?)
- The fruit of the hagberry, Prunus padus.
Synonyms
- (witch or sorceress):
- (ugly old woman): See also Wikisaurus:ugly person
- (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
Translations
a witch, sorceress, or enchantress; also, a wizard
an ugly old woman
|
|
a fury; a she-monster
the hagdon or shearwater
an appearance of light and fire on a horse's mane or a man's hair
Etymology 2
Scots hag (“to cut”), from Old Norse hǫgg ‘cut, gap, breach’, derivative of hǫggva ‘to hack, hew’; compare English hew.
Noun
hag (plural hags)
- A small wood, or part of a wood or copse, which is marked off or enclosed for felling, or which has been felled.
- Fairfax
- This said, he led me over hoults and hags; / Through thorns and bushes scant my legs I drew.
- Fairfax
- A quagmire; mossy ground where peat or turf has been cut.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Dugdale to this entry?)
Etymology 3
From Proto-Germanic *hag(g)ōnan (compare obsolete Dutch hagen ‘to torment, agonize’, Norwegian haga ‘to tire, weaken’).[3]
Verb
hag (third-person singular simple present hags, present participle hagging, simple past and past participle hagged)
- (transitive) To harass; to weary with vexation.
- L'Estrange
- How are superstitious men hagged out of their wits with the fancy of omens.
- L'Estrange
References
- ↑ Vladimir Orel, A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, s.v. “*xaʒaz” (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 149-50.
- ↑ E. C. Polomé, “Althochdeutsch hag(a)zussa ‘Hexe’: Versuch einer neuen Etymologie”, in: R. Bergmann, ed., Althochdeutsch 2 (Wörter und Namen. Forschungsgeschichte) (1987), 1107-12.
- ↑ Guus Kroonen, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, s.v. “*hagla-” (Leiden: Brill, 2013), 199.