egg
English
Pronunciation
- enPR: ĕg, IPA(key): /ɛɡ/
- (also) enPR: āg, IPA(key): /eɪɡ/ (some Canadian and US accents)
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛɡ
Etymology 1
From Middle English egge, from Old Norse egg (“egg”), from Proto-Germanic *ajją (“egg”) (by Holtzmann's law), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm (“egg”). Cognate with Icelandic egg (“egg”), Faroese egg (“egg”), Norwegian egg (“egg”), Swedish ägg (“egg”), Danish æg (“egg”). The native English ey (plural eyren), akin to Dutch ei (plural eieren) and German Ei (plural Eier) and ultimately from the same Proto-Germanic root, survived into the 16th century before being fully displaced by egg. More at ey.
Noun
egg (plural eggs)
- (zoology, countable) An approximately spherical or ellipsoidal body produced by birds, reptiles, insects and other animals, housing the embryo during its development.
- (countable, uncountable) The egg of a domestic fowl (especially a hen) or its contents, used as food.
- I also determine the minimal amount of egg required to make good mayonnaise.
- We made a big omelette with three eggs.
- The farmer offered me some fresh eggs, but I told him I was allergic to egg.
- (biology, countable) The female primary cell, the ovum.
- 2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:
- Many genes with reproductive roles also have antibacterial and immune functions, which indicate that the threat of microbial attack on the sperm or egg may be a major influence on rapid evolution during reproduction.
-
- Anything shaped like an egg, such as an Easter egg or a chocolate egg.
- A swelling on one's head, usually large or noticeable, associated with an injury.
- (slang, mildly derogatory, potentially offensive) A Caucasian who behaves as if they were (East) Asian (from being "white" outside and "yellow" inside).
- (New Zealand, derogatory) A foolish or obnoxious person.
- Shut up, you egg!
- (informal) A person, fellow.
- 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, p. 19:
- ‘Tom,’ he said, ‘you are looking at a crushed violet, a spent egg, a squeezed tube.’
- good egg
- bad egg
- tough egg
- 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, p. 19:
- (LGBT) A person who has not yet realized they are transgender, has not yet come out, or is in the early stages of transitioning.
- 2018, Casey Plett, Little Fish (→ISBN), page 24:
- That fits, though, she thought. Wear the same outfit day after day, your brain gets numb to how it looks or feels—Wendy shut the album. No. […] She hated analyzing the whys of [not-out] trans girls. She had always hated it, and she hated how easy it had become; the bottomless hole of egg mode.
- 2018, Casey Plett, Little Fish (→ISBN), page 24:
- (computing) One of the blocks of data injected into a program's address space for use by certain forms of shellcode, such as "omelettes".
- 2015, Herbert Bos, Fabian Monrose, Gregory Blanc, Research in Attacks, Intrusions, and Defenses: 18th International Symposium
- This approach would be altered for an optimal omelette based exploit. One would spray the heap with the omelette code solely, then load a single copy of the additional shellcode eggs into memory outside the target region for the spray.
- 2015, Herbert Bos, Fabian Monrose, Gregory Blanc, Research in Attacks, Intrusions, and Defenses: 18th International Symposium
Derived terms
- bad egg
- boiled egg
- coddled egg
- cuckoo's egg
- curate's egg
- don't put all your eggs in one basket
- Easter egg
- egg and spoon race
- egg beaters
- egg cup
- egg flip
- egg-nog, eggnog
- egg on one's face
- egg-shell, eggshell
- eggs in moonshine
- egg tart
- egg-timer
- egg white
- egg yolk
- fried egg
- golden egg
- good egg
- go suck an egg
- kill the goose that lays the golden eggs
- lay an egg
- nest egg
- poached egg
- power-egg
- scrambled egg, scrambled eggs
- sure as eggs is eggs
- with egg on one's face
- yoni egg
Descendants
- Sranan Tongo: eksi
Translations
Verb
egg (third-person singular simple present eggs, present participle egging, simple past and past participle egged)
- To throw eggs at.
- To dip in or coat with beaten egg (cooking).
- To distort a circular cross-section (as in a tube) to an elliptical or oval shape, either inadvertently or intentionally.
- After I cut the tubing, I found that I had slightly egged it in the vise.
Translations
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Etymology 2
From Middle English eggen, from Old Norse eggja (“to incite”), from egg (“edge”).
Verb
egg (third-person singular simple present eggs, present participle egging, simple past and past participle egged)
- (transitive, obsolete except in egg on) To encourage, incite.
- 14th c., William Langland, Piers Plowman, Passus 1,
- Þerinne wonieth a wiȝte · þat wronge is yhote
- Fader of falshed · and founded it hym-selue
- Adam and Eue · he egged to ille
- Conseilled caym · to kullen his brother
- 1571, Arthur Golding, The Psalmes of David and others. With M. John Calvins Commentaries, “Epistle Dedicatorie,”
- […] yit have wee one thing in our selves and of our selves (even originall sinne, concupiscence or lust) which never ceaseth too egge us and allure us from God […]
- 14th c., William Langland, Piers Plowman, Passus 1,
Translations
Further reading
Faroese
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ɛkː]
Etymology 1
From Old Norse egg, from Proto-Germanic *ajją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm.
Declension
n23 | Singular | Plural | ||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | egg | eggið | egg | eggini |
Accusative | egg | eggið | egg | eggini |
Dative | eggi | egginum | egg(j)um | egg(j)unum |
Genitive | egs | egsins | eggja | eggjanna |
Derived terms
- antaregg
- eggjahvíti
- eggjakoppur
- eggjakøka
- eggjareyði
- eggjaskal
- froskaegg
- gásaregg
- harðkókað egg
- høsnaregg
- páskaregg
- sjokulátuegg
Etymology 2
From the Old Norse egg, from Proto-Germanic *agjō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp, pointed”).
Declension
f8 | Singular | Plural | ||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | egg | eggin | eggjar | eggjarnar |
Accusative | egg | eggina | eggjar | eggjarnar |
Dative | egg | eggini | eggjum | eggjunum |
Genitive | eggjar | eggjarinnar | eggja | eggjanna |
German
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Icelandic
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɛkː/
- Rhymes: -ɛkː
Etymology 1
From Old Norse egg, from Proto-Germanic *ajją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm. Cognate with Old English ǣġ (obsolete English ey); Swedish ägg; Old High German ei (German Ei).
Noun
egg n (genitive singular eggs, nominative plural egg)
Declension
Synonyms
- (ovum): eggfruma f
Derived terms
- arnaregg (“eagle's egg”)
- dúfuegg (“dove's egg”)
- eggjahvíta (“egg white”)
- eggjarauða, eggjablómi (“egg yolk”)
- hrafnsegg (“raven's egg”)
- höggormsegg (“snake's egg”)
- liggja á eggjum (“to brood, sit on eggs”)
- verpa eggi (“to lay an egg”)
- álptaregg (“swan's egg”)
- æðaregg (“eider duck's egg”)
- eggjasalad
- eggjaskurn
- kríuegg
- páskaegg
Etymology 2
From Old Norse egg, from Proto-Germanic *agjō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp, pointed”).
Cognates include Old Frisian egg, Old Saxon eggia, Dutch egge; Old English ecg (English edge); Old High German egga (German Ecke); Swedish egg.
The Indo-European root is also the source of Latin aciēs (“edge, sharpness”), Ancient Greek ἀκίς (akís, “point”).
Noun
Declension
Synonyms
- (sharp edge): blað
- (mountain): fjallsegg
Derived terms
- fjallsegg
- með oddi og egg/með oddi og eggju
Middle English
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology 1
From Old Norse egg n, from Proto-Germanic *ajją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm.
Noun
egg n (definite singular egget, indefinite plural egg, definite plural egga or eggene)
- an egg
- et kokt egg ― a boiled egg
Noun
egg f or m (definite singular egga or eggen, indefinite plural egger, definite plural eggene)
- (cutting) edge (e.g. of a knife)
Derived terms
Norwegian Nynorsk
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɛɡː/ (example of pronunciation)
Etymology 1
From Old Norse egg n, from Proto-Germanic *ajją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm. Akin to English egg.
Old Norse
Etymology 1
From Proto-Germanic *ajją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm.
Descendants
Etymology 2
From Proto-Germanic *agjō. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”).
Descendants
Swedish
Etymology
From Old Norse egg, from Proto-Germanic *agjō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp, pointed”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɛɡː/
- Homophone: ägg
Declension
Declension of egg | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | egg | eggen | eggar | eggarna |
Genitive | eggs | eggens | eggars | eggarnas |
Related terms
- egga (“to stimulate; to encourage somebody to do a specific action”)
- eggelse
- eggjärn
- eggredskap
- eggskydd
- eggstål
- eggvapen
- eggvass
- eggverktyg
- knivsegg
- yxegg
References
- egg in Svenska Akademiens ordlista över svenska språket (13th ed., online)