hag

hag · noun¹

1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*hagatussjā
2. Old English · inherited fromhægtesse
3. Middle English · inherited fromhagge
4. English todayhag

From Middle English hagge, hegge (“demon, old woman”), shortening of Old English hægtesse, hægtes (“harpy, witch”), from Proto-West Germanic *hagatussjā. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Häkse (“witch”), Dutch heks, German Hexe (“witch”). Doublet of hex.

hag · noun, verb²

1. Old Norse · derived fromhǫgg“cut, gap, breach”
2. Middle English · inherited fromhag
3. English todayhag

From Middle English hag (denoting a gap in a cliff), from Old Norse hǫgg (“cut, gap, breach”), derivative of hǫggva (“to hack, hew”). Compare English hew, Old Swedish hug (“blow, stroke”).

hag · verb³

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*hag(g)ōnan
2. Middle English · inherited fromhaggen
3. English todayhag

From Middle English haggen, from Proto-Germanic *hag(g)ōnan (compare obsolete Dutch hagen (“to torment, agonize”), Norwegian haga (“to tire, weaken”)).

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 15th c. A small wood, or part of a wood or copse, which is marked off or enclosed for felling, or which has been felled.
• from 16th c. A marshy hollow, especially an area of peat lying lower than surrounding moorland, formed by erosion of a gully or cutting and often having steep edges.