wag
See also: Wag, WAG, and wäg
English
Etymology
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
- IPA(key): /wæɡ/
Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -æɡ
Verb
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 (date written), 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
- (swing from side to side): nod, no
Derived terms
- awag
- finger-wag
- wag it
Translations
to swing from side to side
|
to not go to school
|
See also
- waggle (frequentative)
- wiggle
Noun
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, 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
- hop the wag
- play the wag
Translations
oscillating movement
|
witty person
|
See also
- skivitis
References
- 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
- AGW, AWG, GWA, Gaw, WGA, gaw
Afrikaans
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /vaχ/
Etymology 1
From Dutch wacht, from Middle Dutch wachte, from Old Dutch wahta (“watch, sentry, guard”), from Proto-Germanic *wahtwō (“watch, vigil”).
Noun
wag (plural wagte)
- guard
Derived terms
- skildwag
- waghou
- wagtoring
- wagwoord
Etymology 2
From Dutch wachten, from Middle Dutch wachten (“to watch, guard, keep watch, wait”), from Old Dutch *wahton, derived from wahta.
Verb
wag (present wag, present participle wagtende, past participle gewag)
- (intransitive) to wait [+ vir (for)]
German
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /vaːk/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -aːk
Verb
wag
- singular imperative of wagen
- (colloquial) first-person singular present of wagen
Middle English
Noun
wag
- Alternative form of wage
Old English
Alternative forms
- wāh
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *waigaz.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /wɑːɡ/, [wɑːɣ]
Noun
wāg m
- wall (of a building or a house)
Declension
Declension of wag (strong a-stem)
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | wāg | wāgas |
| accusative | wāg | wāgas |
| genitive | wāges | wāga |
| dative | wāge | wāgum |
Derived terms
- wāgrift
- wāgþyrel
Descendants
- Middle English: wagh, wough
- English: waw, wough
Old Saxon
Etymology
From Proto-West Germanic *wāg, from Proto-Germanic *wēgaz.
Noun
wāg m
- wave
- flood
References
- "wāg" in Köbler, Gerhard, Altsächsisches Wörterbuch (5th edition 2014)
Polish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /vak/
- Rhymes: -ak
- Syllabification: wag
Noun
wag f
- genitive plural of waga
Tagalog
Etymology
Contraction of huwag, also a colloquial pronunciation spelling.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈwaɡ/, [ˈwaɡ]
Verb
wag
- (colloquial) Alternative form of huwag
Interjection
wag
- (colloquial) Alternative form of huwag.