Etymology

nag

N1A1G2

Today it means: A small horse; a pony. Full definition →

Middle English nagg
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nag · noun1

  1. Middle English · inherited fromnagg
  2. English todaynag

From Middle English nagg, nage, nagge (“horse, small riding horse, pony”), cognate with Dutch negge, neg (“horse”), German Nickel (“small horse”). Perhaps related to English neigh.

nag · verb, noun2

  1. North Germanic · derived from
  2. English todaynag

Probably from a North Germanic source; compare Swedish nagga (“to gnaw, grumble”), Danish nage (“to nag, bother”), Icelandic nagga (“to complain”). Compare typologically fret, Bulgarian глождя (gloždja), Russian глода́ть (glodátʹ), грызть (gryztʹ), по́едом есть (pójedom jestʹ), е́дкий (jédkij).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.