Etymology
1. c.1225, probably from a Scand. source (cf. O.N.
vagga "a cradle," Dan.
vugge "rock a cradle," O.Swed.
wagga "fluctuate"), and in part from O.E.
wagian "move backwards and forwards;" all from P.Gmc.
*wagojanan (cf. O.H.G.
weggen, Goth.
wagjan "to wag"), probably from PIE base
*wegh- "to move about" (see weigh).
Wagtail is attested from 1510 as a kind of small bird; 18c. as "a harlot," but seems to be implied much earlier:
"If therefore thou make not thy mistress a goldfinch, thou mayst chance to find her a wagtaile." [Lyly, "Midas," 1592]
Wag-at-the-wall (1825) was an old name for a hanging clock with pendulum and weights exposed.
2. From Middle English waggen, probably from Old English wagian (“to wag, wave, shake”) with reinforcement from Old Norse vaga (“to wag, waddle”); both from Proto-Germanic *wagōną (“to wag”). Related to English way.
3. The verb may be regarded as an iterative or emphatic form of waw (verb), which is often nearly synonymous; it was used, e.g., of a loose tooth. Parallel formations from the same root are the Old Norse vagga feminine, cradle (Swedish vagga, Danish vugge), Swedish vagga (“to rock a cradle”), vugge (“to rock a cradle”), Dutch wagen (“to move”), early modern German waggen (dialectal German wacken) to waver, totter. Compare waggle, verb See: Middle English '
waggen', Old English '
wagian', Proto-Germanic '
*wagōną', English '
way'.
Verbs referencing "wag"
Icelandic
vagga.