wag

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)

1. To swing from side to side, as an animal's tail, or someone's head, to express disagreement or disbelief.
   • 1613 (date written), 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 Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     No discerner durst wag his tongue in censure.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Bible Jeremiah:18–16:

     Every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.

3. (UK, Australia, slang) To play truant from school.

   Synonym: see Thesaurus:play truant

   • 1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, “chapter xxii”, in Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, , published 1848, →OCLC:

     "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, Blood, i. 13:

     They had "wagged it" from school, as they termed it, which..meant truancy in all its forms.

   • 2005, Arctic Monkeys, “Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts”, in I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor:

     […] she wagged English and Science just to go in his car […]

4. (intransitive, chiefly obsolete) To go; to proceed; to move; to 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 Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     "Thus we may see," quoth he, "how the world wags."

5. To move continually, especially in gossip; said of the tongue.

   She's a real gossip: her tongue is always wagging.

6. (intransitive, obsolete) To leave; 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

Translations

See also

• waggle (frequentative)
• wiggle

Noun

wag (plural wags)

1. An oscillating movement.

   The wag of my dog's tail expresses happiness.

2. A witty person.
   • c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     Was not my Lord
     The veryer Wag o'th' two?

   • 1855 July 1, anonymous author, The Judge's Big Shirt‎, Yankee-notions, →ISSN:

     But being a bit of a wag, and relishing a good joke amazingly, he concluded to have a little fun, and at the same time learn his friend a lesson concerning his negligent custom.

   • 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:

     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
• wag-halter

Translations

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)

1. 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)

1. (intransitive) to wait

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vaːk/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːk

Verb

wag

1. singular imperative of wagen
2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of wagen

Middle English

Noun

wag

1. Alternative form of wage

Old English

Alternative forms

• wāh

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *waigaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wɑːɡ/,

Noun

wāg m

1. wall (of a building or a house)

Declension

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

1. wave
2. flood

References

• "wāg" in Köbler, Gerhard, Altsächsisches Wörterbuch (5th edition 2014)

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vak/
• Rhymes: -ak
• Syllabification: wag

Noun

wag f

1. genitive plural of waga

Tagalog

Etymology

Clipping of huwag, also a colloquial pronunciation spelling.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwaɡ/,

Verb

wag (Baybayin spelling ᜏᜄ᜔) (colloquial)

1. Alternative form of huwag

Interjection

wag (Baybayin spelling ᜏᜄ᜔) (colloquial)

1. Alternative form of huwag

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /waːɡ/

Adjective

wag

1. Soft mutation of gwag.

Mutation