Etymology

feague

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Today it means: To increase the liveliness of a horse by inserting an irritant, such as a piece of peeled raw ginger or a live eel, in its anus. Full definition →

Dutch vegen ← Middle Dutch vēghen ← Old Dutch *fegōn
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feague · verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*pōḱ-
  2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*faginōną“to decorate, make beautiful”
  3. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*faginōn
  4. Old Dutch · derived from*fegōn“to cleanse”
  5. Middle Dutch · derived fromvēghen“to cleanse”
  6. Dutch · borrowed fromvegen“to sweep, strike”
  7. English todayfeague

From Dutch vegen (“to sweep, strike”), from Middle Dutch vēghen (“to cleanse”), from Old Dutch *fegōn (“to cleanse”), from Proto-West Germanic *faginōn, from Proto-Germanic *faginōną (“to decorate, make beautiful”), from Proto-Indo-European *pōḱ-, *pēḱ- (“to clean, to adorn”). Cognate with Danish feje (“to sweep”), German fegen (“to cleanse, scour, sweep”), Icelandic fægja (“to polish”), Swedish feja (“to sweep”). More at fay, fair, fake.

feague · noun2

  1. Dutch · derived fromfeeks
  2. English todayfeague

Possibly from Dutch feeks, probably from vegen (“to sweep, strike”): see etymology of feague (verb) above. Compare Middle English vecke (“old woman”).

Words from the same roots

Proto-West Germanic*faginōn all →

fain

Proto-Germanic*faginōną all →

fain

Proto-Indo-European*pōḱ- all →

fayfey

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.