Etymograph

English

hag

Hag comes from Middle English hagge ‘demon, old woman’, from Old English hægtesse ‘harpy, witch’, and ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *hagatussjā.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hagatussjā‘witch’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150hægtesse‘harpy, witch’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hagge‘demon, old woman’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1565hag

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hagatussjā‘witch’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150hægtesse‘harpy, witch’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hagge‘demon, old woman’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1565hag

Earliest quotation: 1565, Arthur Golding, London: William Seres: “And that olde hag that with a staffe his…”

Every English word from Proto-West Germanic *hagatussjā

Another origin of hag

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kewh₂-‘to hew’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hawwaną‘to hew, forge’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350hǫggva‘to hack, hew’
  4. Old Norse, derivedc. 800–1350hǫgg‘cut, gap, breach’derivative of hǫggva
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hag
  6. Englishtodaysame form

Another origin of hag

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hag(g)ōnanreconstructed
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500haggen‘to hack, cut, chop’
  3. Englishtodayhag

Today it means

noun A witch, sorceress, or enchantress; a female wizard.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *hagatussjā / hag

Shirt and support for this word