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Nag vs Hag - What's the difference?

nag | hag |

As nouns the difference between nag and hag

is that nag is a small horse; a pony while hag is a witch, sorceress, or enchantress; a wizard.

As verbs the difference between nag and hag

is that nag is to repeatedly remind or complain to someone in an annoying way, often about insignificant matters while hag is to harass; to weary with vexation.

nag

English

Etymology 1

(etyl) nagge'', cognate with Dutch ''negge

Noun

(en noun)
  • A small horse; a pony.
  • An old useless horse.
  • (obsolete, derogatory) A paramour.
  • * 1598 , , III. x. 11:
    • Yon ribaudred nag of Egypt – Whom leprosy o'ertake!
    Synonyms
    * (old useless horse) dobbin, hack, jade, plug
    Coordinate terms
    * (old useless horse) bum (racing )

    Etymology 2

    Probably from a (etyl) source; compare Swedish .

    Verb

    (nagg)
  • To repeatedly remind or complain to someone in an annoying way, often about insignificant matters.
  • To act inappropriately in the eyes of peers, to backstab, to verbally abuse.
  • To bother with persistent memories.
    • The notion that he forgot something nagged him the rest of the day.
  • Other sorts of persistent annoyance, e.g.:
    • A nagging pain in his left knee
    A nagging north wind

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • One who .

    • Anagrams

    * * * * ----

    hag

    English

    Etymology 1

    (etyl) hagge, hegge 'demon, old woman', shortening of (etyl) '', ).1987, E. C. Polomé, R. Bergmann (editor), "Althochdeutsch ''hag(a)zussa'' 'Hexe': Versuch einer neuen Etymologie", ''Althochdeutsch 2 (Wörter und Namen. Forschungsgeschichte) , pages 1107-1112.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A witch, sorceress, or enchantress; a wizard.
  • * (rfdate) Golding
    • [Silenus] that old hag .
  • (pejorative) An ugly old woman.
  • A fury; a she-monster.
    • (Crashaw)
  • A hagfish; an eel-like marine marsipobranch, , allied to the lamprey, with a suctorial mouth, labial appendages, and a single pair of gill openings.
  • A hagdon or shearwater.
  • An appearance of light and fire on a horse's mane or a man's hair.
    • (Blount)
  • The fruit of the hagberry, Prunus padus .
    • Synonyms
    * (witch or sorceress) * (ugly old woman) See also * (fury or she-monster) * (eel-like marine marsipobranch) borer, hagfish, sleepmarken, slime eel, sucker * (hagdon or shearwater) * (appearance of light and fire on mane or hair) * (fruit of the hagberry)
    Derived terms
    * fag hag

    Verb

    (hagg)
  • To harass; to weary with vexation.
  • * L'Estrange
    • How are superstitious men hagged out of their wits with the fancy of omens.

    Etymology 2

    Scots ; compare English hack.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A small wood, or part of a wood or copse, which is marked off or enclosed for felling, or which has been felled.
  • * Fairfax
    • This said, he led me over hoults and hags ; / Through thorns and bushes scant my legs I drew.
  • A quagmire; mossy ground where peat or turf has been cut.
    • (Dugdale)

    References

    (Webster 1913)

    Anagrams

    * ----