eggnog

Etymology

It is an American compound from English egg + nog (“strong ale”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The second part, nog, was a strong beer brewed especially in Norfolk, recorded from 1693;^[3][5][7] Etymonline finds “a boull of nogg” already in the 1670s.^[2] The origin of nog itself is unknown.^[4][5][2] The OED compares noggin, a small cup, and an Orkney and Shetland word, “nugg” or “nugged ale”, for ale warmed with a hot poker;^[3] Wilton thinks noggin a likely source,^[7] while Popik finds “nog” or “nug”, a strong drink, more likely than noggin.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A drink of eggs beaten up with spirits, wine or beer: the word is dated to about 1775,^[2][5] and Dictionary.com places it in 1765–75 as an Americanism.^[6] Hendrickson says it was first recorded at the time of the Revolutionary War.^[9] The earliest certain record found by Fred Shapiro, quoted by Wilton, is in the New Jersey Journal of 26 March 1788, where a young man drinks "a glass of egg nog" after thirty raw eggs.^[7] The OED entry, first published in 1891 and not revised, dates it only to 1825, in John Neal's Brother Jonathan.^[3]

Semantic evolution

A poem by Jonathan Boucher, who lived in Virginia and Maryland in 1762–75, mentions egg-nogg among morning drams, but it was published only in 1833, so its date is uncertain; its glossary calls the drink heavy and unwholesome, made of rum beaten up with raw egg yolks.^[7] In 1790 the congressman Hugh Williamson described an old sea captain who took egg-nog in the morning and grog at eleven.^[7] Early recipes could use beer or wine instead of milk,^[2] and the OED's definition still speaks of eggs stirred up with hot beer, cider, wine or spirits.^[3] Popik notes that the drink has been tied to winter and to Christmas almost from its first records.^[8] By 1848 nog alone could mean eggnog in American English,^[3] and later any mixed drink of beaten egg and milk, such as a brandy nog.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1775 – a drink of eggs beaten with spirits, sugar and milk.^[2][5] Dictionary.com dates it 1765–75.^[6]
• 1788 – egg nog, in the New Jersey Journal.^[7]
• c. 1790 – egg nog in Philip Freneau's poem The Passage to Burlington.^[2]
• 1848 – nog alone for eggnog, chiefly in the United States.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sweet drink of milk or cream, sugar and beaten eggs, often mixed with rum, brandy or other spirits and flavoured with nutmeg, usually served cold: We drank eggnog by the fire on Christmas Eve.^[10][5]
2. A glass or serving of this drink.^[5][10]

Related words

• egg
• nog
• noggin

Usage notes

A story told since the 2000s, that the drink was first called "egg and grog", has no historical citations behind it.^[8] In French the drink is lait de poule, "hen's milk", which English speakers have joked about as "chicken milk".^[11]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f Wilton, Dave, Wordorigins.org, wordorigins.org, p. "Eggnog", 4 December 2024
8. ^ a b c Popik, Barry, The Big Apple, barrypopik.com, p. "Eggnog [Egg Nog]", 19 November 2008
9. ^ Hendrickson, Robert (2008), The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, 4th ed., New York: Facts on File
10. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
11. ^ Popik, Barry, The Big Apple, barrypopik.com, p. "Chicken Milk [eggnog]", 12 October 2025