fag
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fæɡ/
Audio (General Australian): (file) - Rhymes: -æɡ
Etymology 1
Probably from fag end (“remnant”), from Middle English fagge (“flap”).
Noun
fag (plural fags)
- (US, technical) In textile inspections, a rough or coarse defect in the woven fabric.
- (UK, Ireland, colloquial, now offensive in US and Canada) A cigarette.
- 1968 January 25, The Bulletin[1], Oregon:
- He′d Phase Out Fag Industry
Los Angeles (UPI) - A UCLA professor has called for the phasing out of the cigarette industry by converting tobacco acres to other crops.
- 1995, Pulp (lyrics and music), “Common People”, in Different Class:
- Oh, rent a flat above a shop / And cut your hair and get a job / And smoke some fags and play some pool / Pretend you never went to school
- 2001, Oliver Sacks, Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood, Alfred A. Knopf, section 15:
- All of them, like my mother, were heavy smokers, and after warming themselves by the fire, they would sit on the sofa and smoke, lobbing their wet fag ends into the fire.
- 2011, Bill Marsh, Great Australian Shearing Stories, unnumbered page:
- So I started off by asking the shearers if they minded if I took a belly off while they were having a fag. Then after a while they were asking me. They′d say, ‘Do yer wanta take over fer a bit while I have a fag?’ And then I got better and I′d finish the sheep and they′d say ‘Christ, I haven′t finished me bloody fag yet, yer may as well shear anotherie.’
- (UK, Ireland, obsolete, colloquial) The worst part or end of a thing.
- 1788, William Perry, editor, The Royal standard English dictionary[2]:
- Fag, s. the worst part or end of anything.
Usage notes
- The usage to refer to a cigarette is no longer readily understood in North America due to the prevalence of the use as a homophobic slur there (see etymology 3). It is now likely to be misunderstood as such or otherwise seen as offensive by people from that region.[1] This can cause problems for people from other regions using the word like this on US-run social media platforms, even in local or regional spaces.
Synonyms
Derived terms
- fag break
- fag end
- fag lighter
- fag packet
- fish-fag (possibly from a different etymology)
Translations
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Etymology 2
Akin to flag (“droop, tire”). Compare Dutch vaak (“sleepiness”).
Noun
fag (plural fags)
- (British, Ireland, colloquial, now rare, now offensive in US and Canada) A chore: an arduous and tiresome task.
- 1853, Sarah Josepha Hale, Woman's Record: or Sketches of All Distinguished Women, from Creation to A.D. 1854, page 188:
- We are sadly off in the country; not but what we have very good shops in Salisbury, but it is so far to go—eight miles is a long way; Mr. Allen says it is nine, measured nine; but I am sure it cannot be more than eight; and it is such a fag—I come back tired to death.
- (British, Ireland, education, historical, colloquial, now offensive in US and Canada) A younger student acting as a servant for senior students.
- 1791, Richard Cumberland, The Observer, volume 4, page 67:
- I had the character at ſchool of being the very beſt fag that ever came into it.
- 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, The History of Pendennis. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
- “He was my fag at Eton,” Warrington said. “I ought to have licked him a little more.”
- 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, page 18:
- A gang of fags was mobbing about by the notice-boards. They fell silent as he approached. He patted one of them on the head. ‘Pretty children,’ he sighed, digging into his waistcoat pocket and pulling out a handful of change. ‘Tonight you shall eat.’ Scattering the coins at their feet, he moved on.
Derived terms
Verb
fag (third-person singular simple present fags, present participle fagging, simple past and past participle fagged)
- (transitive, colloquial, used mainly in passive form, now rare, now offensive in US and Canada) To make exhausted, tired out.
- (intransitive, colloquial, now rare, now offensive in US and Canada) To droop; to tire.
- (intransitive, British, Ireland, education, historical, colloquial, now offensive in US and Canada) (of a younger student) To act as a servant for senior students in many British boarding schools.
- (transitive, British, Ireland, education, historical, colloquial, now offensive in US and Canada) To have (a younger student) act as a servant in this way.
- 1887, Francis Bacon, Richard Whately, Essays, page 63:
- It is everywhere observed that a liberated slave is apt to make a merciless master, and that boys who have been cruelly fagged at school are cruel faggers.
- (intransitive, British, Ireland, now rare, now offensive in US and Canada) To work hard, especially on menial chores.
- 1847, Charlotte Brontë, chapter 1, in Jane Eyre[3], HTML edition:
- This state of things should have been to me a paradise of peace, accustomed as I was to a life of ceaseless reprimand and thankless fagging; but, in fact, my racked nerves were now in such a state that no calm could soothe, and no pleasure excite them agreeably.
- 1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC:
- I walked about the streets where the best shops for ladies were, I haunted the Bazaar like an unquiet spirit, I fagged through the Park again and again, long after I was quite knocked up.
Derived terms
- (to act as a servant): fagger, faggery, fagging (as a noun), fagmaster
- (to tire): fag out, fagged out
Usage notes
- As with the usage to refer to a cigarette (see etymology 1), these usages are likely to cause offence to or otherwise be seen as slurs by people from North America due to the prevalence of the usage as a slur (see etymology 3) in that region, even if their literal meaning is understood. Even in the UK and Ireland, due to the rarity of these senses and the prevalence of the usage to refer to a cigarette, these usages may cause confusion or misunderstandings.
Etymology 3
Noun
fag (plural fags)
- (chiefly US, Canada, vulgar, usually offensive, sometimes endearing) A homosexual man, especially (usually derogatory) an effeminate or unusual one.
- 1921 John Lind, The Female Impersonators (Historical Documentation of American Slang v. 1, A-G, edited by Jonathan E. Lighter (New York: Random House, 1994) page 716.
- Androgynes known as “fairies,” “fags,” or “brownies.”
- 1926, American Neurological Association with New York Neurological Association et al., Journal of nervous and mental disease[4], volume 94, page 467:
- In schizophrenics, however, the homosexual outlet is sooner or later ... ideas that strangers call them "cs," "fairy," "woman," "fag," " fruit," etc.). ...
- 1960, John Updike, 'Rabbit, Run', page 111:
- When they pick out a set of clubs for him to rent, he is so indifferent and silent the freckled kid in charge stares at him as if he's a moron. The thought flits through his brain that Eccles is known as a fag and he has become the new pet.
- 2006, Lynn Mickelsen, Confusion Turned to Chaos:
- A couple of days later, Trisha tells Madelyn there is a rumor going around that she's a fag.
- 2008, Paul Ryan Brewer, Value war: public opinion and the politics of gay rights, →ISBN, page 60:
- ... what appeared to be overt appeals to anti-gay sentiment. When House Majority Whip Dick Armey referred to fellow Congressman Barney Frank as "Barney Fag" in 1995, he suffered a barage of negative publicity that prompted him to explain his choice of words as a slip of the tongue.
- 1921 John Lind, The Female Impersonators (Historical Documentation of American Slang v. 1, A-G, edited by Jonathan E. Lighter (New York: Random House, 1994) page 716.
- (US, vulgar, derogatory, offensive) An annoying person.
- Why did you do that, you fag?
Usage notes
- In North America, fag is often considered highly offensive, although some gay people have tried to reclaim it. (Compare faggot.) The humorousness of derived terms fag hag and fag stag is sometimes considered to lessen their offensiveness.
Synonyms
- (male homosexual): See Thesaurus:homosexual person
- (annoying person): See Thesaurus:jerk
Derived terms
Translations
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References
- ^ Richard Forrester (2018 August 18) “Lee Dixon apologises for saying ‘fag’ on US tv when talking about Maurizio Sarri’s smoking habits”, in The Sun, retrieved 6 October 2023
Anagrams
Aromanian
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Latin fāgus. Compare Romanian fag.
Noun
fag m (plural fadz)
Derived terms
Related terms
Danish
Etymology
From German Fach (“compartment, drawer, subject”), from Old High German fah (“wall”).
Pronunciation
Noun
fag n (singular definite faget, plural indefinite fag)
- subject (of study)
- trade, craft, profession
- bay (the distance between two vertical or horizontal supports in roofs and walls)
Inflection
Derived terms
Icelandic
Etymology
Borrowed from Danish fag, itself a borrowing from German Fach.
Pronunciation
Noun
fag n (genitive singular fags, nominative plural fög)
- subject (particular area of study)
Declension
Synonyms
- (subject): námsgrein
Jamaican Creole
Etymology
Noun
fag
- fog
- 2012, Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment, Edinburgh: DJB, published 2012, →ISBN, Jiemz 4:14:
- Bot wa unu nuo buot tumaro? Unu no iivn nuo ou unu laif a-go go tumaro. Unu laif komiin jos laik fag. Di fag kom dong fi likl bit, an den az di son kom out so, di fag jos disapier.
- Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. Your life is like a fog that comes in for a little while, then when the sun comes out the fog vanishes away.
Megleno-Romanian
Etymology
Noun
fag m
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From Middle Low German or German Low German fak; compare with German Fach.
Noun
fag n (definite singular faget, indefinite plural fag, definite plural faga or fagene)
- subject (e.g., at school)
- profession, trade, discipline
Derived terms
References
- “fag” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
From Middle Low German or German Low German fak; compare with German Fach.
Noun
fag n (definite singular faget, indefinite plural fag, definite plural faga)
- subject (e.g., at school)
- profession, trade, discipline
Derived terms
References
- “fag” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Old English
Adjective
fāg
- Alternative form of fāh
Polish
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek φάγος (phágos).
Pronunciation
Noun
fag m animal
- phage, bacteriophage (virus that infects bacteria)
- Synonym: bakteriofag
Declension
Further reading
- fag in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Romanian
Etymology 1
Inherited from Latin fāgus, from Proto-Italic *fāgos, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂ǵos (“beech tree”).
Noun
fag m (plural fagi)
Declension
Related terms
Etymology 2
Inherited from Latin favus, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰōw- (“to swell, grow, thrive, be, live, dwell”).
Noun
fag n (plural faguri)
Welsh
Etymology 1
Pronunciation
Noun
fag
- Soft mutation of bag.
Mutation
Welsh mutation | |||
---|---|---|---|
radical | soft | nasal | aspirate |
bag | fag | mag | unchanged |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
Etymology 2
Pronunciation
Noun
fag
- Soft mutation of mag.
Mutation
Welsh mutation | |||
---|---|---|---|
radical | soft | nasal | aspirate |
mag | fag | unchanged | unchanged |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
References
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/æɡ
- Rhymes:English/æɡ/1 syllable
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- American English
- English technical terms
- British English
- Irish English
- English colloquialisms
- English offensive terms
- Canadian English
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English terms with rare senses
- en:Education
- English terms with historical senses
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English clippings
- English vulgarities
- English endearing terms
- English derogatory terms
- English terms with usage examples
- English three-letter words
- en:LGBT
- en:Smoking
- Aromanian terms inherited from Latin
- Aromanian terms derived from Latin
- Aromanian lemmas
- Aromanian nouns
- Aromanian masculine nouns
- Danish terms derived from German
- Danish terms derived from Old High German
- Danish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Danish lemmas
- Danish nouns
- Danish neuter nouns
- Icelandic terms borrowed from Danish
- Icelandic terms derived from Danish
- Icelandic terms derived from German
- Icelandic terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Icelandic/aːɣ
- Rhymes:Icelandic/aːɣ/1 syllable
- Icelandic lemmas
- Icelandic nouns
- Icelandic neuter nouns
- Icelandic countable nouns
- Jamaican Creole terms derived from English
- Jamaican Creole lemmas
- Jamaican Creole nouns
- Jamaican Creole terms with quotations
- Megleno-Romanian terms inherited from Latin
- Megleno-Romanian terms derived from Latin
- Megleno-Romanian lemmas
- Megleno-Romanian nouns
- Megleno-Romanian masculine nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål neuter nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk neuter nouns
- Old English lemmas
- Old English adjectives
- Polish terms borrowed from Ancient Greek
- Polish learned borrowings from Ancient Greek
- Polish terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Polish 1-syllable words
- Polish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Polish terms with audio links
- Rhymes:Polish/ak
- Rhymes:Polish/ak/1 syllable
- Polish terms with homophones
- Polish lemmas
- Polish nouns
- Polish masculine nouns
- Polish animal nouns
- pl:Viruses
- Romanian terms inherited from Latin
- Romanian terms derived from Latin
- Romanian terms inherited from Proto-Italic
- Romanian terms derived from Proto-Italic
- Romanian terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- Romanian terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian nouns
- Romanian countable nouns
- Romanian masculine nouns
- Romanian neuter nouns
- Romanian terms with archaic senses
- Welsh terms with IPA pronunciation
- Welsh non-lemma forms
- Welsh mutated nouns
- Welsh soft-mutation forms