English
wag
Wag comes from Middle English waggen ‘to move to and fro, up and down’.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500waggen‘to move to and fro, up and down’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1598–1600wag
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500waggen‘to move to and fro, up and down’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1598–1600wag
Earliest quotation: c. 1598–1600, William Shakespeare, As You Like It: “Thus we may see," quoth he, "how the world…”
The story
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’), vugge (‘to rock a cradle’), Dutch wagen (‘to move’), early modern German waggen (dialectal German wacken) to waver, totter.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- ‘to drag, carry’
always, way, via, vehicle, reveal, wave, vector, weigh, wee, vein, halfway, veil, wedge, wagon, venous, vex, wonky, eunuch, headway, vena, wey, invective, velar, wain, 40 more
through Proto-West Germanic *wagōn
through Old English wagian ‘to wag, wave, shake’
Today it means
verb To swing from side to side, as an animal's tail, or someone's head to express disagreement or disbelief.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English waggen / wag