Etymology

stag

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Today it means: An adult male deer, especially a red deer and especially one in high adulthood versus a young adult. Full definition →

Middle English stagge ← Old English stagga ← Old Norse steggi
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*stegʰ-
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*staggijô
  3. Old Norse · derived fromsteggi
  4. Old English · inherited fromstagga
  5. Middle English · inherited fromstagge
  6. English todaystag

From Middle English stagge, steg, from Old English stagga, stacga (“a stag”) and possibly Old Norse steggi, steggr (“a male animal”), both from Proto-Germanic *staggijô, *staggijaz (“male, male deer, porcupine”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *stegʰ-, *stengʰ- (“to sting; rod, blade; sharp, stiff”). Doublet of steg (“gander”). Cognate with Icelandic steggi, steggur (“tomcat, male fox”). Related to staggard, staggon.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.