Abishag

English

Etymology

From Hebrew אבישג (“Avishag”, literally “Father of error” or “the Father wanders”), from אבי (avi, “father of; my father”) and שגג (shagag, “to go astray; to err; to sin”).

Noun

Abishag (plural Abishags)

1. (archaic, thieves' cant, uncommon) The illegitimate child of an unmarried woman and a married man.

Hypernyms

• bastard, love-child

References

• Albert Barrère and Charles G[odfrey] Leland, compilers and editors (1889–1890) “Abishag”, in A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant […], volume I (A–K), Edinburgh: […] The Ballantyne Press, →OCLC, page 5.
• Eric Partridge (1949) A Dictionary of the Underworld, London: Macmillan Co.