hag

Meaning

Noun

1. A witch, sorceress, or enchantress; a wizard.
2. An ugly old woman.
3. An evil woman.
4. A fury; a she-monster.
5. A hagfish; one of various eel-like fish of the family Myxinidae, allied to the lamprey, with a suctorial mouth, labial appendages, and a single pair of gill openings.
6. A hagdon or shearwater; one of various sea birds of the genus Puffinus.
7. (obsolete) An appearance of light and fire on a horse's mane or a person's hair.
8. The fruit of the hagberry, Prunus padus.
9. (slang) Sleep paralysis.

Verb

To harass; to weary with vexation.

Concepts

hag

witch

crone

harridan

bag

virago

vixen

hagfish

slime eels

beldam

beldame

shrew

old woman

broad

woman

frump

old maid

termagant

old witch

bog

quagmire

spitefire

tigress

hell-cat

night-hag

runt

queen

bitch

harp

ghost

sorceress

loose woman

slovenly

gorgon

harpy

old bag

sack

wallet

Pronounced as (IPA)

/hæɡ/

Etymology

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.