bag English · revision 2913

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1230|origins=non baggi}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bæɡ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|bagge]], probably [[bor|non|baggi|t=pack, bundle]] or a similar Scandinavian word,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) though its origin is uncertain.^(Cresswell 2021)^(NODE 1998) In some senses it may be from Old French bague, Provençal baga “baggage”, which are also from Germanic.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988) The OED rejects a connection with other Germanic words for “bellows, belly” and finds a Celtic origin untenable.^(Etymonline) The verb is from the noun.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A small sack: probably before 1200, in the ''Ancrene Riwle'',^(Barnhart 1988) about 1200 in Etymonline and about 1230 in the OED.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A money bag or purse is from 1393,^(OED 1989) and in poetry ''bags'' were bagpipes from about 1275.^(OED 1989) The verb meant “to swell out like a bag” about 1400 and “to put in a bag” in the early 15th century,^(Etymonline) about 1412 in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988) From the hunter's game bag (late 15th century) came “to kill game” (1814) and “to seize, steal” (1818),^(Etymonline) and probably ''in the bag'', “certain”, American English from 1922.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) ''To be left holding the bag'', “to be cheated”, is attested by 1793.^(Etymonline) Loose folds of skin under the eyes are ''bags'' by 1867.^(Etymonline) As disparaging slang for a woman it is from 1924 in modern use.^(Etymonline) A person's area of interest, as in ''not my bag'', is from 1964 in African-American vernacular, from the jazz sense “category”.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1200 – a sack.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1275 – ''bags'', bagpipes.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1412 – verb, to put in a bag.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1793 – ''left holding the bag''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1814 – verb, to kill game.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1867 – bags under the eyes.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1922 – ''in the bag''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1964 – one's interest or style.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A container of paper, plastic, cloth or leather, open at the top, for carrying things.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A [[handbag]] or piece of luggage.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A loose fold of skin under the eye.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(informal)'' Something one is interested in or good at: ''jazz isn't my bag''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(offensive)'' An unpleasant or unattractive woman.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To put into a bag.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To kill or catch game.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(informal)'' To get or take: ''bag a good seat''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To hang loosely; to bulge.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bagful]]

+ * [[bagger]]

+ * [[baglike]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[baggage]]

+ * [[baggy]]

+ * [[bagpipe]]

+ * [[handbag]]

+ * [[bagman]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}