egg English · revision 5066

+ Egg, the oval body laid by birds, and egg, to urge on, are different words, both from Old Norse.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /eɡ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|ovum}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1340|origins=non egg}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|egge]], a northern word [[bor|non|egg]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*ajją|alt=*ajja(m)]],^(Etymonline) probably from [[ine-pro|*h₂ōwyóm|alt=*ōwyóm]], the source also of Latin ōvum and Greek ōión.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) A link with Latin avis “bird” is possible but uncertain.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) It replaced Middle English ey, eai, plural eyren, from [[m|ang|ǣg]], the native cognate.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) It is related to [[oval]] and [[ovum]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Norse-derived form is from about 1340 in Barnhart, the mid-14th century in Etymonline,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) while the OED dates the word with its Old English ancestor to 805–31.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The northern egg and the southern eye were used side by side until egg won after about 1500.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) In 1490 Caxton told of a merchant at an inn on the Thames who asked for egges and was not understood until another guest asked for eyren.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) Of persons it is from about 1600,^(Etymonline) at first contemptuously of a young person (1605).^(OED 1989) Something egg-shaped is from 1589,^(OED 1989) ''bad egg'' “a bad person” from 1855,^(Etymonline) and a bomb or mine in slang from 1917.^(OED 1989) ''Egg on one's face'' is attested by 1948.^(Etymonline) The verb, to cover with egg in cookery, is from 1808, and to pelt with eggs from 1857.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 805–31 – Old English ǣg.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1340 – the Norse form eg.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1500 – egg displaces eye.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1605 – of a young person.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1808 – verb, in cookery.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1855 – ''bad egg''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1948 – ''egg on one's face''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The oval object with a shell laid by a female bird, [[reptile]] or fish, in which a young animal develops.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A hen's egg eaten as food.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A female reproductive cell; an [[ovum]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To cover food with beaten egg.^(AHD)

+ # To throw eggs at someone.^(AHD)

+

+ {{homograph|2|urge}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1200|origins=non eggja}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|eggen]], [[bor|non|eggja|t=to goad, incite]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from egg “edge”,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) so that it is related to [[edge]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To incite, urge on, provoke: about 1200 in the OED and Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is now used chiefly in the phrase ''egg on''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1200 – to incite.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To urge someone to do something, usually something foolish: ''egged on by his friends''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ovum]]

+ * [[oval]]

+ * [[oo-]]

+ * [[ovo-]]

+ * [[edge]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}