egg

See also: Egg and EGG

English

WOTD – 16 October 2022

Pronunciation

A crocodile hatching from an egg (noun sense 1.1).

Chicken eggs (noun sense 1.1.1) in a nest.

A chicken egg (noun sense 1.1.1) being fried as food.

An Easter egg (sense 1.1.2) made of chocolate with a caramel filling.

A human egg (noun sense 1.2) or ovum being used for in vitro fertilization.

A child with an egg (noun sense 2.1) on the forehead caused by a bump to the head.

Egg (noun sense 2.2) and dart moulding on a fragment from the ruin of the stadium in the ancient Greek city of Perga, now in Antalya, Turkey.

(Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: ĕg, IPA^(key): /ɛɡ/
Audio (GA) (file)
(some Canadian and US accents) enPR: āg, IPA^(key): /eɪɡ/
Homophone: Eigg
Rhymes: -ɛɡ

Etymology 1

The noun is derived from Middle English eg, egg, egge (“egg of a domestic or wild fowl; egg of a snake”) [and other forms] (originally Northern England and Northeast Midlands),[1] from Old Norse egg (“egg”), from Proto-Germanic *ajją (“egg”) (by Holtzmann’s law), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm (“egg”),[2] probably from *h₂éwis (“bird”), from *h₂ew- (“to clothe oneself, dress; to be dressed”) (in the sense of an animal clothed in feathers). Doublet of huevo, oeuf, and ovum.

The native English ey [and other forms] (plural eyren) (obsolete),[3] from Old English ǣġ, is also derived from Proto-Germanic *ajją. It survived into the 16th century before being fully displaced by egg.

The verb is derived from the noun.[4]

cognates

Danish æg (“egg”)
Faroese egg (“egg”)
Icelandic egg (“egg”)
Norwegian egg (“egg”)
Swedish ägg (“egg”)

Noun

egg (countable and uncountable, plural eggs)

(countable, zoology)
1. An approximately spherical or ellipsoidal body produced by birds, insects, reptiles, and other animals, housing the embryo within a membrane or shell during its development.
  - 1535 October 14 (Gregorian calendar), Myles Coverdale, transl., Biblia: The Byble, […] (Coverdale Bible), [Cologne or Marburg: Eucharius Cervicornus and J. Soter?], OCLC 79441532, Job xxxix:[13–15], folio xi, recto, column 2:
    The Eſtrich (whoſe fethers are fayrer thẽ y^e wynges of the ſparow hauke) whẽ he hath layd his egges vpon the grounde, he bredeth them in the duſt, and forgetteth them: ſo that they might be troden with feete, or broken with ſomme wilde beaſt.
  - 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene i], page 114, column 1:
    [T]hinke him as a Serpents egge, / VVhich hatch'd, vvould as his kinde grovv mischieuous; / And kill him in the ſhell.
  - 1657, Samuel Purchas, “Of the Generation of Bees”, in A Theatre of Politicall Flying-Insects. […], London: […] R. I. for Thomas Parkhurst, […], OCLC 5952968, pages 47–48:
    An egg properly is that, out of a part vvhereof a living creature is produced, and the reſidue is meat for it, improperly that is an egg out of the vvhole vvhereof, a living creature is bred, as the eggs of Spiders, Ants, Flies.
  - 1791, Oliver Goldsmith, “Of Quadrupeds in General, Compared to Man”, in An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature. […], volume II, new edition, London: […] F[rancis] Wingrave, successor to Mr. [John] Nourse, […], OCLC 877622212, pages 311–312:
    [T]here is one claſs of quadrupeds that ſeems entirely left to chance, […] Theſe are the quadrupeds that are brought forth from the egg, ſuch as the lizard, the tortoiſe, and the crocodile. […] [T]he numerous brood of eggs are, vvithout farther ſolicitude, buried in the vvarm ſands of the ſhore, and the heat of the ſun alone is left to bring them to perfection.
  - 1847, William Harvey, “Anatomical Exercises on the Generation of Animals; to which are Added, Essays on Parturition; on the Membranes, and Fluids of the Uterus; and on Conception. [On Animal Generation. Exercise the Twenty-third: Of the Exclusion of the Chick, or the Birth from the Egg.]”, in Robert Willis, transl., The Works of William Harvey, M.D., London: […] Sydenham Society, OCLC 989082750, page 264:
    The egg is, as we have said, a kind of exposed uterus, and place in which the embryo is fashioned: for it performs the office of the uterus and enfolds the chick until the due time of its exclusion arrive, when the creature is born perfect.
    A translation of a passage from Harvey’s Exercitationes de generatione animalium (1651).
  1. (specifically, countable) The edible egg (sense 1.1) of a domestic fowl such as a duck, goose, or, especially, a chicken; (uncountable) the contents of such an egg or eggs used as food.
    Synonyms: (obsolete) ey, (Castilianism) huevo, (humorous, or in French cooking) oeuf
    We made a big omelette with three eggs. (countable)
    I should determine the minimal amount of egg required to make good mayonnaise. (uncountable)
    The farmer offered me some fresh eggs, but I told him I was allergic to egg. (countable, uncountable)
    - 1566, Apuleius, “The Eleventh Booke”, in William Adlington, transl., The Golden Ass of Apuleius Translated out of Latin […], London: David Nutt […], published 1893, OCLC 29082041, page 239:
      There after the images and reliques were orderly disposed, the great Priest compassed about with divers pictures according to the fashion of the Ægyptians, did dedicate and consecrate with certaine prayers a fair ship made very cunningly, and purified the same with a torch, an egge, and sulphur; […]
    - c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, OCLC 932916628, [Act II, scene i]:
      [T]hey are vp already, and cal for Egges and butter, they vvil avvay preſently.
    - 1665–1667, John Lauder, Lord Fountainhall, “Journal in France 1665–1667”, in Donald Crawford, editor, Journals of Sir John Lauder, Lord Fountainhall, with His Observations on Public Affairs and Other Memoranda 1665–1676 […] (Publications of the Scottish History Society; XXXVI), Edinburgh: […] University Press by T[homas] and A[rchibald] Constable for the Scottish History Society, published May 1900, OCLC 2060688, page 52:
      I was 5 moneth in France before I saw a boyled or roasted egge.
    - 1732, John Arbuthnot, “Practical Rules of Diet in the Various Constitutions and Diseases of Human Bodies. Chapter I. Of the Different Qualities and Effects of Alimentary Substances.”, in An Essay Concerning the Nature of Aliments, and the Choice of Them, According to the Different Constitutions of Human Bodies. […], 3rd edition, London: […] J[acob] Tonson […], published 1735, OCLC 216284136, page 261:
      Eggs are perhaps the higheſt, moſt nouriſhing and exalted of all animal Food, and moſt indigeſtible, becauſe no body can take and digeſt the ſame Quantity of them as of other Food.
    - 1851 June – 1852 April, Harriet Beecher Stowe, “An Evening in Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life among the Lowly, volume I, Boston, Mass.: John P[unchard] Jewett & Company; Cleveland, Oh.: Jewett, Proctor & Worthington, published 20 March 1852, OCLC 976451739, page 39:
      A round, black, shining face is hers, so glossy as to suggest the idea that she might have washed over with white of eggs, like one of her own tea rusks.
  2. (by extension, countable) A food item shaped to resemble an egg (sense 1.1.1), such as a chocolate egg.
2. (also cytology) Synonym of ovum (“the female gamete of an animal”); an egg cell.
  - 1981, William Irwin Thompson, “Hominization”, in The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture (A Lindisfarne Series Book), New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN, part 2 (The Transformations of Prehistory), page 80:
    In the Fall into the division of labor, [Claude] Lévi-Strauss sees the great hunters trading women to create the exogamous bonds of one hunting band with another. The egg is, but the sperm does. The tiny sperm may be furious in its activity, but its highway to the egg is paved by the alkaline trail set down by the Great Mother.
  - 2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist‎, volume 101, number 3, New Haven, Conn.: Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, DOI:10.1511/2013.102.210, ISSN 0003-0996, OCLC 891112584, archived from the original on 22 April 2013, abstract, page 210:
    Although they serve the same function across the plant, animal and fungal kingdoms, sperm and eggs vary wildly in their structure and biochemistry, even among closely related species. […] Many genes that determine sperm and egg structure and biochemistry are rapidly evolving, constantly changing the chemical environment necessary for the sperm to bind to the egg.
(countable) A thing which looks like or is shaped like an egg (sense 1.1).
- 1621 August 13 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Ben Jonson, “The Masque of the Gypsies”, in Q. Horatius Flaccus: His Art of Poetry. […], London: […] J[ohn] Okes, for John Benson […], published 1640, OCLC 1203251361, page 84:
  His ſtomacke vvas queaſie (for comming there Coacht) / The jogging had caus’d ſome crudities riſe; / To help it he call’d for a Puritan poacht, / That uſed to turne up the egg’s of his eyes.
  Referring to the whites of the eyes.
- 1659 December 30 (date written), Robert Boyle, “[Experiment 20]”, in New Experiments Physico-Mechanicall, Touching the Spring of the Air, and Its Effects, (Made, for the Most Part, in a New Pneumatical Engine) […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] H[enry] Hall, printer to the University, for Tho[mas] Robinson, published 1660, OCLC 633153238, page 144:
  There vvas taken a great Glaſs-bubble, vvith a long neck; (ſuch as Chymiſts are vvont to call a Philoſophical Egg) vvhich being fill'd vvith common VVater till the Liquor reach'd about a ſpan above the bubble, and a piece of Paper being there paſted on, vvas put unſtop'd into the Receiver, […]
1. A swelling on one's head, usually large or noticeable, resulting from an injury.
  Synonym: (Canada, US, informal) goose egg
2. (architecture) Chiefly in egg and dart: an ornamental oval moulding alternating in a row with dart or triangular shapes.
3. (chiefly sports) A score of zero; specifically (cricket), a batter's failure to score; a duck egg or duck's egg.
  Synonyms: (Canada, US, informal) goose egg, (billiards, racquet sports (especially tennis)) love
4. (military, dated) A bomb or mine.
(countable, figuratively)
1. Senses relating to people.
  1. (informal, dated) A person; a fellow.
    a bad egg a good egg a tough egg Cheerio, old egg!
    - 1903, Rudyard Kipling, “‘Their Lawful Occasions’—Part II”, in Traffics and Discoveries, London: Macmillan and Co., published 1904, OCLC 544007, page 138:
      'Good egg!' quoth Moorshed, and brought his hand down on the wide shoulders with the smack of a beaver's tail.
    - 1910 February, John Galsworthy, Justice: A Tragedy in Four Acts, London: Duckworth and Co. […], published March 1910, OCLC 247335479, Act I, page 15:
      Walter. The woman we passed as we came in just now. Is it his wife? / Cokeson. No, no relation. [Restraining what in jollier circumstances would have been a wink] A married person, though. […] James. A real bad egg.
    - 1915 September 3, Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, chapter XI, in Something New, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, OCLC 5176582, page 326:
      "She isn't going to sue me for breach of promise?" / "She never had any intention of doing so." / The Honorable Freddie sank back on the pillows. / "Good egg!" he said with fervor. He beamed happily. "This," he observed, "is a bit of all right."
    - 1920, John Galsworthy, “On Forsyte ’Change”, in In Chancery, London: William Heinemann, OCLC 312632, part I, page 100:
      They tell me at Timothy's […] that Dartie has gone off at last. That'll be a relief to your father. He was a rotten egg.
    - 1932, Edgar Wallace; Merian C[aldwell] Cooper; novelization by Delos W[heeler] Lovelace, chapter 4, in King Kong, trade softcover edition, Nevada City, Calif.: Underwood Books, published 2005, →ISBN, page 29:
      Some big, hard-boiled egg meets up with a pretty face, and bingo! He cracks up and melts.
    - 1937 July 24 – September 11, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter I, in Summer Moonshine, 1st UK edition, London: Herbert Jenkins […], published 1938, OCLC 3122372, page 18:
      "She's a tough egg." / "She must be, if she slung your brother Joe out."
    - 1980, Stephen King, “The Wedding Gig”, in Skeleton Crew (A Signet Book), New York, N.Y.: New American Library, published June 1986, →ISBN, page 259:
      Up close he looked like a pretty tough egg. His hair was bristling up in the back in spite of what smelled like a whole bottle of Wildroot Creme Oil and he had the flat, oddly shiny eyes that some deep-sea fish have.
  2. (derogatory, ethnic slur, rare) A white person considered to be overly infatuated with East Asia.
    Hypernym: race traitor
    Hyponyms: Koreaboo, wapanese, weeaboo, weeb, wumao
  3. (Internet slang, derogatory, dated) A user of the microblogging service Twitter identified by the default avatar (historically an image of an egg (sense 1.1.1)) rather than a custom image; hence, a newbie or noob.
  4. (transgender slang) A person regarded as having not yet realized they are transgender, who has not yet come out as transgender, or who is in the early stages of transitioning; also, one's lack of awareness that one is transgender.
    to crack someone’s egg (to cause someone to realize they are transgender)
    - 2018, Casey Plett, Susan Safyan, editor, Little Fish, Vancouver, B.C.: Arsenal Pulp Press, →ISBN, page 24:
      That fits, though, she thought. Wear the same outfit day after day, your brain gets numb to how it looks or feels—Wendy shut the album. No. […] She hated analyzing the whys of [not-out] trans girls. She had always hated it, and she hated how easy it had become; the bottomless hole of egg mode.
    - 2020, Grace Lavery, “Egg Theory's Early Style”, in Transgender Studies Quarterly, page 384:
      So I remember being told, in the very early part of my transition, that I had been, until now, an egg, and—as powerfully rooted in a belief in latency as I found myself[.]
  5. (New Zealand, derogatory) A foolish or obnoxious person.
    Shut up, you egg!
  6. (derogatory, obsolete) A young person.
    - c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene ii], page 145, column 2:
      VVhat you Egge? / Yong fry of Treachery?
2. (archaic) Something regarded as containing a (usually bad) thing at an early stage.
  - a. 1658 (date written), George Daniel, “Trinarchodia. The Raigne of Henry the Fourth.”, in Alexander B[alloch] Grosart, editor, The Poems of George Daniel, Esq. of Beswick, Yorkshire. (1616–1657) from the Original MSS. in the British Museum: Hitherto Unprinted. […], volume IV, [Boston, Lincolnshire: […] [Robert Roberts] for private circulation only, published 1878, OCLC 558894212, stanza 348, page 88:
    [S]oe Power of Warre / From the firſt Egge of Libertie, out-Creepes / A fatall Serpent; […]
  - 1683 June 5 (Gregorian calendar), Roger L’Estrange, “The State of the City of London, in the Late Rebellion. […]”, in The Observator, in Dialogue, volume I, number 345, London: […] J. Bennet, for William Abington, […], OCLC 642997431, page [1], column 1:
    In ſhort, the Rebellion had been Cruſh'd in the Egg; and One Seaſonable Act of Rigour, had Sav'd the King, the Monarchy, the Church, and the Three Kingdoms.
3. (computing) One of the blocks of data injected into a program's address space for use by certain forms of shellcode, such as "omelettes".
  - 2015, Charles Smutz; Angelos Stavrou, “Preventing Exploits in Microsoft Office Documents through Content Randomization”, in Herbert Bos, Fabian Monrose, and Gregory Blanc, editors, Research in Attacks, Intrusions, and Defenses: 18th International Symposium, RAID 2015, Kyoto, Japan, November 2–4, 2015: Proceedings (LNCS; 9404; Sublibrary SL4 (Security and Cryptology)), Cham, Switzerland; Heidelberg, Baden-Württemburg: Springer International Publishing, DOI:10.1007/978-3-319-26362-5, →ISBN, ISSN 0302-9743, page 241:
    This approach would be altered for an optimal omelette based exploit. One would spray the heap with the omelette code solely, then load a single copy of the additional shellcode eggs into memory outside the target region for the spray.

Usage notes

When the word is used in sense 1.1.1 (“edible egg”) without any qualifying word, it refers to a chicken’s egg.

The use as in 3.1.4 can be sensitive, as regards people who have yet to openly identify as transgender (and possibly even to consider themselves such).

Alternative forms

egge (obsolete)

Derived terms

American hand-egg
an egg's age
ant egg
armadillo egg
a wild goose never laid a tame egg
bad egg
barn egg
better an egg today than a hen tomorrow
boiled egg
butter-and-egg man
century egg
chicken-and-egg problem
chicken-and-egg question, chicken and egg question, chicken-or-egg question, chicken or egg question
chicken-and-egg situation
chucky egg
cock egg
coddled egg
colored egg
Columbus egg
cosmic egg
cracked as an egg
crack someone's egg
crack the egg
cuckoo's egg
curate's egg
darning egg
deviled egg, devilled egg
don't put all your eggs in one basket
dropped egg
duck egg
duck-egg blue
Easter egg
Easter egg hunt
Easter egg roll
egg and spoon race
egg banjo
egg bank
egg beater, eggbeater
egg Benedict
egg-bird
egg-bound
egg bread
egg burster
egg carton
egg case
egg cell
eggcorn
egg-cosy, egg cosy, egg-cozy, egg cozy
egg-crated
egg-crate, egg crate
egg-crating, egg crating
egg cream
eggcup, egg cup
egg donation
egg drop
egg drop soup
egg flip
egg fruit
egg-hot
egg hunt
egg in a nest
egg in one's beer
egg matza, egg matzah, egg matzo
egg mayonnaise
egg moon
eggnog, egg nog
egg of Columbus
egg on one's face
egg pasta
eggplant, egg-plant
egg pod
egg replacer
egg ring
egg roll
egg rolling
egg sac
egg salad
egg sandwich
egg-shaped
eggshell
eggs in moonshine
egg slice
egg spoon
egg squash
egg tart
egg-timer, egg timer
egg tooth
egg waffle
egg wash
egg whisk
egg-white, egg white
egg wrack
egg yolk
Faberge egg, Fabergé egg
fried egg
garden egg
golden egg
golden egg bug
good egg
goose egg
go suck an egg
guggy egg
handegg, hand-egg
jade egg
kill the goose that lays the golden eggs
laundry egg
lay an egg
long egg
love egg
marble egg
nest egg
Orphic egg
over-egg the pudding
pace-egg, pace egg
paste-egg, paste egg
pickled egg
picnic egg
poached egg
pouched egg
power egg
put an egg in one's shoe and beat it
robin egg blue, robin's-egg blue
rotten egg
rotten-egg gas, rotten egg gas
salted egg
scotch egg, Scotch egg
scrambled egg, scrambled eggs
scrambled egg slime mold
son-in-law egg
steamed egg
sure as eggs is eggs
tea egg
there's more than one way to cook an egg
there's more than one way to crack an egg
thousand-year egg, thousand-year-old egg
twenty-minute egg
Ukrainian Easter egg
vegetarian egg
wind egg
world egg
yoni egg

Descendants

Jamaican Creole: eg
Sranan Tongo: eksi

Translations

See egg/translations § Noun.

Verb

egg (third-person singular simple present eggs, present participle egging, simple past and past participle egged)

(transitive)
1. To throw (especially rotten) eggs (noun sense 1.1.1) at (someone or something).
  The angry demonstrators egged the riot police.
  The students were caught egging the principal’s car as a prank.
  - 2013 February, M. Golding, “Framing”, in How to Piss Off a Crappy Roommate: From A to Z, [Morrisville, N.C.]: Lulu, →ISBN, page 89:
    Like I said before in that chapter, after that ultimate egging, Gay-D didn't mention anything about eggs again, but he meekly ask for us to stop egging Xander's door so that he wouldn't get blamed.
2. To inadvertently or intentionally distort (the circular cross-section of something, such as tube) to an elliptical or oval shape.
  After I cut the tubing, I found that I had slightly egged it in the vise.
3. (cooking) To coat (a food ingredient) with or dip (a food ingredient) in beaten egg (noun sense 1.1.1) during the process of preparing a dish.
  - [1833, [Frederick Marryat], chapter I, in Peter Simple. […], volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […], published 1834, OCLC 27694940, page 8:
    "Jemima, Jemima!—ve'll ha'e the viting biled instead of fried." "Ca'n't, marm," replied Jemima, "they be all hegged and crumbed, with their tails in their mouths."]
  - 1834, M[arie-]A[ntoine] Carême, John Porter, editor, The Royal Parisian Pastrycook and Confectioner: […], London: F. J. Mason, […], OCLC 15160719, page 163:
    Then mask another large piece with currant jelly, cover it as before, and after egging the edges, roll them over some coarse sugar, and put them immediately in the oven. Join the remaining pieces in the same manner, two and two, and after egging the edges as before, roll them alternately on pistachios and coarse sugar.
(intransitive) To collect the eggs (noun sense 1.1) of wild birds.

Derived terms

egger
egging (noun)
over-egg

Translations

to throw (rotten) eggs at (someone or something)

Finnish: heittää kananmunilla
French: jeter des oeufs
Greek: παίρνω με τ' αβγά (paírno me t' avgá)
Lithuanian: apmėtyti kiaušiniais
Portuguese: jogar ovos em
Spanish: lanzar huevos a, tirar huevos a
Swahili: yai (sw)

to inadvertently or intentionally distort (the circular cross-section of something, such as tube) to an elliptical or oval shape

to coat (a food ingredient) with or dip (a food ingredient) in beaten egg during the process of preparing a dish

Finnish: kastaa kananmunaan, voidella kananmunalla
Polish: obtaczać w jajku impf, obtoczyć w jajku pf
Swahili: yai (sw)

to collect the eggs of wild birds

Etymology 2

From Middle English eggen (“to urge on; to entice, incite, lure, tempt; to encourage, exhort, stimulate; (reflexive) to bestir (oneself); to challenge, taunt; to enrage, irritate”),[5] from Old Norse eggja (“to incite, egg on”),[6] from egg (“an edge”), from Proto-Germanic *agjō (“a corner; an edge”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”).

cognates

Danish ægge, egge (“to incite, egg on; to excite, rouse”)
Faroese eggja (“to incite, egg on; to sharpen”)
Icelandic eggja (“to incite, egg on”)

Verb

egg (third-person singular simple present eggs, present participle egging, simple past and past participle egged)

(transitive, obsolete except in egg on) To encourage, incite, or urge (someone).
Synonyms: (obsolete) edge, provoke, tempt
- 1571, Arthur Golding, “To the Right Honorable and His Verie Good Lord Edward de Vere Erle of Oxinford, […]”, in John Calvin; Arthur Golding, transl., The Psalmes of Dauid and Others. VVith M. Iohn Caluin’s Commentaries, London: […] Thomas East and Henry Middelton; for Lucas Harison, and G[e]orge Byshop, OCLC 1121348373, 1st part, folio iiij, recto:
  [Y]it haue vvee one thing in our ſelues and of our ſelues, (euen originall ſinne, concupiſcence or luſt) vvhich neuer ceaſeth too egge vs and allure vs from God, and too ſtaine vs vvith all kinde of vnclennes: […]
- 1586, William Warner, “The Fourth Booke. Chapter XX.”, in Albions England. A Continued Historie of the Same Kingdome, from the Originals of the First Inhabitants thereof: […], 5th edition, London: […] Edm[und] Bollifant for George Potter, […], published 1602, OCLC 1179445035, page 96:
  The Neatreſſe, longing for the reſt, / Did egge him on to tell / How faire ſhe vvas, and vvho ſhe vvas.
- 1603, Matthew Kellison, “The First Chapter Sheweth How the Reformers Take Away Hope of Heauen and Feare of Hell, and Consequently Open the Gapp to All Vice”, in A Survey of the New Religion, Detecting Manie Grosse Absurdities which it Implieth. […], Douai: […] Lawrence Kellam, […], OCLC 220697315, 7th book (Conteineth a Suruey of the New Doctrine Concerning Manners, […]), page 510:
  Hope like a ſpurre pricketh forvvard, feare like a bridle reſtraineth, hope eggeth onvvard vnto vertue, feare pulleth backe from vice, hope incites vs to obſerue the lavv, feare makes vs feare to trãſgreſſe the lavve.
- 1610 October, John Foxe, Actes and Monuments of Matters Most Speciall and Memorable, Happening in the Church, with an Vniuersall Historie of the Same. […], volume I, 6th edition, London: […] [Humphrey Lownes] for the Company of Stationers, OCLC 81611923, book IV, page 299, column 1:
  Thus time paſſing on, within a yeere following, which was in the yeere of our Lord 1261. the king [Henry III of England] ſeeing himſelfe more and more to grow in debt, and not to bee relieued according to promiſe made, but eſpecially being egged (as may be thought) by his brethren taking it to ſtomach, ſent vp to the pope, both for him and his ſonne Edward to bee releaſed of their oth made before at Oxford.
- 1633, Levine Lemnie [i.e., Levinus Lemnius], “Of the Spirit Universall Generally Inspired into the Whole World, and All the Parts thereof. […]”, in T[homas] N[ewton], transl., The Touchstone of Complexions. […], London: […] E[lizabeth] A[llde] for Michael Sparke, […], OCLC 84753954, pages 34–35:
  And of them they make tvvo ſorts, the good Angels, and the bad: becauſe the good pricketh a man forvvard, to grace, goodneſſe, vertue, and honeſty: the other eggeth him to levvdneſſe, miſchiefe, ſhame, villany, and all kinde of looſe diſhoneſty.
- 1758, Maphaeus [i.e., Maffeo Vegio], [John Ellis], transl., The Canto Added by Maphæus to Virgil’s Twelve Books of Æneas, from the Original Bombastic, Done into English Hudibrastic; With Notes beneath, and Latin Text in Ev’ry Other Page Annext, London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley […], OCLC 642407125, lines 227–230, page 35:
  O harpy Love-rule, murd'rous Hag; / Whither doſt thou blind Mortals drag! / 'Tis thou to Battle eggeſt Kings / As well as Louts to Wreſtling-rings; […]
- 1877, William Morris, “Regin Telleth Sigurd of His Kindred, and of the Gold that was Accursed from Ancient Days”, in The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs, London: Ellis and White, […], OCLC 9586253, book II (Regin), page 93:
  Nought such do I look to be. / But thou, a deedless man, too much thou eggest me: […]
- 1883, “Bersaoglis Vísor, c. 1039. (From the Lives of Kings, especially Kringla, Hulda, Flatey-bok iii. 267–269.)”, in Gudbrand Vigfusson and F[rederick] York Powell, editors, Corpvs Poeticvm Boreale: The Poetry of the Old Northern Tongue: From the Earliest Times to the Thirteenth Century […], volume II (Court Poetry), Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, OCLC 1051499663, book VIII (Christian Court Poetry), § 2 (St. Olaf and Cnut), page 147:
  Who is egging thee, king, to go back from the oath thou hast sworn? A worthy king of men should be true to his word. It can never beseem thee, my lord, to break thine oath. Who is egging thee, prince, to slaughter the cattle of thy thanes? It is tyranny for a king to do such deed in his own land.

Conjugation

Conjugation of egg

infinitive	(to) egg
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	egg	egged
2nd-person singular	egg, eggest^†	egged, eggedst^†
3rd-person singular	eggs, eggeth^†	egged
plural	egg	egged

subjunctive	egg	egged

imperative	egg	—

participles	egging	egged

^†Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms

egg on

Translations

to encourage, incite, or urge (someone) — See also translations at encourage,‎ incite,‎ urge

Bulgarian: подбуждам (bg) (podbuždam), подтиквам (bg) (podtikvam)
Danish: ægge (da)
Faroese: eggja
Finnish: yllyttää (fi)
German: anfeuern (de), anstacheln (de), antreiben (de)
Greek: προτρέπω (el) (protrépo)
Slovak: nabádať
Spanish: empujar (es), incitar (es)
Swahili: yai (sw)

References

“eg(ge, n.(1)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
“egg, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2022; “egg¹, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
“ei, n.(1)}”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
“egg, v.²”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022.
“eggen, v.(1)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
“egg, v.¹”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “egg², v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

GGE, Geg, geg

Faroese

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ɛkː]

Etymology 1

From Old Norse egg, from Proto-Germanic *ajją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm.

Noun

egg n (genitive singular egs, plural egg)

egg

Declension

n23	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	egg	eggið	egg	eggini
Accusative	egg	eggið	egg	eggini
Dative	eggi	egginum	egg(j)um	egg(j)unum
Genitive	egs	egsins	eggja	eggjanna

Derived terms

antaregg
eggjahvíti
eggjakoppur
eggjakøka
eggjareyði
eggjaskal
froskaegg
gásaregg
harðkókað egg
høsnaregg
páskaregg
sjokulátuegg

Etymology 2

From the Old Norse egg, from Proto-Germanic *agjō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp, pointed”).

Noun

egg f (genitive singular eggjar, plural eggjar)

blade, edge
border, edge of a cliff

Declension

f8	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	egg	eggin	eggjar	eggjarnar
Accusative	egg	eggina	eggjar	eggjarnar
Dative	egg	eggini	eggjum	eggjunum
Genitive	eggjar	eggjarinnar	eggja	eggjanna

German

Pronunciation

Audio (file)

Verb

egg

singular imperative of eggen
(colloquial) first-person singular present of eggen

Icelandic

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈɛkː/
Rhymes: -ɛkː

Etymology 1

From Old Norse egg, from Proto-Germanic *ajją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm. Cognate with Old English ǣġ (obsolete English ey); Swedish ägg; Old High German ei (German Ei).

Noun

egg n (genitive singular eggs, nominative plural egg)

(zoology) an egg
an oval shaped object
the ovum

Declension

declension of egg

	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
n-s	singular		plural
nominative	egg	eggið	egg	eggin
accusative	egg	eggið	egg	eggin
dative	eggi	egginu	eggjum	eggjunum
genitive	eggs	eggsins	eggja	eggjanna

Synonyms

(ovum): eggfruma f

Derived terms

arnaregg (“eagle's egg”)
álptaregg (“swan's egg”)
dúfuegg (“dove's egg”)
eggjahvíta (“egg white”)
eggjarauða, eggjablómi (“egg yolk”)
eggjasalad
eggjaskurn
hrafnsegg (“raven's egg”)
höggormsegg (“snake's egg”)
kríuegg
liggja á eggjum (“to brood, sit on eggs”)
páskaegg
verpa eggi (“to lay an egg”)
æðaregg (“eider duck's egg”)

Etymology 2

From Old Norse egg, from Proto-Germanic *agjō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp, pointed”).

Cognates include Old Frisian egg, Old Saxon eggia, Dutch egge; Old English ecg (English edge); Old High German egga (German Ecke); Swedish egg.

The Indo-European root is also the source of Latin aciēs (“edge, sharpness”), Ancient Greek ἀκίς (akís, “point”).

Noun

egg f (genitive singular eggjar, nominative plural eggjar)

(weaponry) the sharp edge of a knife, sword, or similar
a sharp edge on a mountain

Declension

declension of egg

	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
f-s1	singular		plural
nominative	egg	eggin	eggjar	eggjarnar
accusative	egg	eggina	eggjar	eggjarnar
dative	egg	egginni	eggjum	eggjunum
genitive	eggjar	eggjarinnar	eggja	eggjanna

Synonyms

(sharp edge): blað
(mountain): fjallsegg

Derived terms

fjallsegg
með oddi og egg/með oddi og eggju

Middle English

Noun

egg

Alternative form of eg (“egg”)

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɛɡ/
Rhymes: -ɛɡ
Hyphenation: egg

Etymology 1

From Old Norse egg n (“egg”), from Proto-Germanic *ajją (“egg”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm (“egg”), likely from *h₂éwis (“bird”), possibly from *h₂ew- (“to enjoy, consume”).

Cognate with English egg (“egg”), Icelandic egg (“egg”), Faroese egg (“egg”), Swedish ägg (“egg”), Danish æg (“egg”).

Noun

egg n (definite singular egget, indefinite plural egg, definite plural egga or eggene)

an egg

Derived terms

bløtkokt egg
eggehvite
eggekvite
eggeplomme
eggerøre
eggformet
eggløsning
eggstokk
enegget
hardkokt egg
kokt egg
påskeegg
speilegg

Etymology 2

From Old Norse egg f.

Noun

egg f or m (definite singular egga or eggen, indefinite plural egger, definite plural eggene)

(cutting) edge (e.g. of a knife)

Derived terms

tveegget

References

“egg” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
“egg_1” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
“egg_2” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /eɡː/, /ɛɡː/

Etymology 1

From Old Norse egg n, from Proto-Germanic *ajją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm. Akin to English egg.

Noun

egg n (definite singular egget, indefinite plural egg, definite plural egga)

an egg

Inflection

Historical inflection of egg

	indefinite singular	definite singular	indefinite plural	definite plural
Aasen¹	Egg n	Egget	Egg	Eggi
1901		egget (egge)
1917		egget		egga, eggi
1938				egga [eggi]
2012 (current)	egg n	egget	egg	egga

Forms in italics are currently considered non-standard. Forms in [brackets] were official, but considered second-tier. Forms in (parentheses) were allowed under Midlandsnormalen. ¹Nouns were capitalised for most of the 19th century.

Derived terms

eggekvite
eggeplomme
eggerøre
eggstokk
påskeegg
speilegg

Etymology 2

From Old Norse egg f, from Proto-Germanic *agjō f (“edge, corner”), and ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂eḱ-. Cognates include English edge and German Ecke.

Noun

egg f or m (definite singular eggen or egga, indefinite plural eggar or egger, definite plural eggane or eggene)

an edge (the thin cutting side of the blade of an instrument, such as an ax, knife, sword, or scythe)
(geology) an arête

Inflection

Historical inflection of egg

	indefinite singular	definite singular	indefinite plural	definite plural
Aasen¹	Egg f	Eggi	Eggjar	Eggjarne
1901				eggjarne (eggjane)
1917		egga, eggi	eggjar, egger	eggjane, eggene
1938		egga [eggi]	egger	eggene
1959	egg m or f	eggen, egga [eggi]	eggar, egger	eggane, eggene
2012 (current)	egg m or f	eggen, egga	eggar, egger	eggane, eggene

Forms in italics are currently considered non-standard. Forms in [brackets] were official, but considered second-tier. Forms in (parentheses) were allowed under Midlandsnormalen. ¹Nouns were capitalised for most of the 19th century.

References

“egg” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old Norse

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *ajją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm.

Noun

egg n (genitive eggs, plural egg)

egg

Declension

Declension of egg (strong ja-stem)

neuter	singular		plural
neuter	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	egg	eggit	egg	eggin
accusative	egg	eggit	egg	eggin
dative	eggi	egginu	eggjum	eggjunum
genitive	eggs	eggsins	eggja	eggjanna

Descendants

Icelandic: egg
Faroese: egg
Norwegian Bokmål: egg
Elfdalian: egg
Westrobothnian: aigg
Old Swedish: æg
- Swedish: ägg
Scanian: ægg
Danish: æg
→ Middle English: eg
- English: egg, egge
  - Jamaican Creole: eg
  - Sranan Tongo: eksi
- Scots: egg
- Yola: egges (plural)

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *agjō. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”).

Noun

egg f (genitive eggjar, plural eggjar)

edge (of a blade)

Declension

Declension of egg (strong jō-stem)

feminine	singular		plural
feminine	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	egg	eggin	eggjar	eggjarnar
accusative	egg	eggina	eggjar	eggjarnar
dative	egg, eggju	egginni, eggjunni	eggjum	eggjunum
genitive	eggjar	eggjarinnar	eggja	eggjanna

Descendants

Icelandic: egg
Faroese: egg
Norwegian Nynorsk: egg
Dalian: egg
Westrobothnian: aigg
Old Swedish: eg
- Swedish: egg
Danish: æg
- Norwegian Bokmål: egg

References

Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic‎, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse egg, from Proto-Germanic *agjō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp, pointed”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɛɡː/
Homophone: ägg

Noun

egg c

The sharp edge of a cutting tool.

Declension

Declension of egg
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	egg	eggen	eggar	eggarna
Genitive	eggs	eggens	eggars	eggarnas

Related terms

egga (“to stimulate; to encourage somebody to do a specific action”)
eggelse
eggjärn
eggredskap
eggskydd
eggstål
eggvapen
eggvass
eggverktyg
knivsegg
yxegg

References

egg in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)

Westrobothnian

Pronunciation

(Umeå) IPA^(key): [¹ɛɡː]
(Bygdeå, Burträsk, Lövånger) IPA^(key): [¹ɛɪ̯ɡː] [1]
(Skellefteå) IPA^(key): [¹æɪ̯ɡː] [1]
Rhymes: -ɛ́ɡː

Etymology 1

From Old Norse egg, from Proto-Germanic *ajją. Compare with Swedish ägg.

Noun

egg n (definite singular eggj’eð, defininte plural egg’a)

Egg.

Etymology 2

From Old Norse egg from Proto-Germanic *agjō.

Pronunciation

(Umeå) IPA^(key): [¹ɛdʑː] (Generalized palatalization from the definite form)
(Bygdeå, Burträsk, Lövånger) IPA^(key): [¹ɛɪ̯ɡː] [1]
(Skellefteå) IPA^(key): [¹æɪ̯ɡː] [1]
Rhymes: -ɛ́ɡː

Noun

egg n (definite singular eggj’eð, defininte plural egg’a)

The sharp edge of a cutting tool.

Derived terms

eggbrøst

References

Lindgren, J. V., 1940, “'*agg etc.”, in Orbok över Burträskmålet, page 36 and 163

Marklund, Thorsten, 1986, Skelleftemålet: grammatik och ordlista : för lekmän - av lekman [The Skellefteå speech: grammar and vocabulary: for laymen - by a layman], →ISBN, page 72

[1] “eg(ge, n.(1)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

[2] “egg, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2022; “egg¹, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

[3] “ei, n.(1)}”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

[4] “egg, v.²”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022.

[5] “eggen, v.(1)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

[6] “egg, v.¹”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “egg², v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

[Lindgren-7] Lindgren, J. V., 1940, “'*agg etc.”, in Orbok över Burträskmålet, page 36 and 163

egg

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Usage notes

Alternative forms

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

See also

Verb

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

Verb

Conjugation

Derived terms

Translations

References

Further reading

Anagrams

Faroese

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Declension

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Noun

Declension

German

Pronunciation

Verb

Icelandic

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Declension

Synonyms

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Noun

Declension

Synonyms

Derived terms

Middle English

Noun

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Noun

Derived terms

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Inflection

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Noun

Inflection

References

Old Norse

Etymology 1

Noun

Declension

Descendants

Etymology 2

Noun

Declension

Descendants

References

Swedish

Etymology

Pronunciation