egg

See also: Egg

Contents

English

Chicken eggs in a nest

An egg being cooked for food

An Easter egg made of chocolate and caramel

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)

1. (zoology, countable) An approximately spherical or ellipsoidal body produced by birds, reptiles, insects and other animals, housing the embryo during its development.
2. (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.

3. (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.

4. Anything shaped like an egg, such as an Easter egg or a chocolate egg.
5. A swelling on one's head, usually large or noticeable, associated with an injury.
6. (slang, mildly derogatory, potentially offensive) A Caucasian who behaves as if they were (East) Asian (from being "white" outside and "yellow" inside).
7. (New Zealand, derogatory) A foolish or obnoxious person.

   Shut up, you egg!

8. (informal) A person, fellow.

   good egg

   bad egg

   tough egg

9. (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.

Derived terms

Terms derived from egg (noun)

• 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

See egg/translations § Noun.

Verb

egg (third-person singular simple present eggs, present participle egging, simple past and past participle egged)

1. To throw eggs at.
2. To dip in or coat with beaten egg (cooking).
3. 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

to throw eggs at

• Finnish: heittää kananmunilla
• French: jeter des oeufs
• Greek: παίρνω με τ' αβγά (paírno me t' avgá)

• Lithuanian: apmėtyti kiaušiniais
• Portuguese: jogar ovos em
• Swahili: yai (sw)

to dip in or coat with beaten egg

• Finnish: kastaa kananmunaan, voidella kananmunalla

• Swahili: yai (sw)

See also

• caviar
• roe

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)

2. (transitive, obsolete except in egg on) To encourage, incite.
   • 14th c., William Langland, Piers Plowman, Passus 1,^[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,”^[2]

     […] 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 […]

Derived terms

• egg on
• over-egg

Translations

to encourage

• Bulgarian: подбуждам, подтиквам (podbuždam, podtikvam)
• Danish: ægge (da)
• Faroese: eggja
• Finnish: yllyttää (fi)

• Greek: προτρέπω (el) (protrépo)
• Slovak: nabádať
• Spanish: incitar (es), empujar (es)
• Swahili: yai (sw)

Further reading

• egg on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• (transgender): Morgan Lev Edward Holleb, The A-Z of Gender and Sexuality: From Ace to Ze (2019, →ISBN), page 98

Anagrams

• GGE, Geg, geg

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Faroese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɛkː]

Etymology 1

From Old Norse egg, from Proto-Germanic *ajją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm.

Noun

egg n (genitive singular egs, plural egg)

1. egg

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”).

Noun

egg f (genitive singular eggjar, plural eggjar)

1. blade, edge
2. border, edge of a cliff

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

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German

Verb

egg

1. Imperative singular of eggen.
2. (colloquial)  First-person singular present of eggen.

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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)

1. (zoology) an egg
2. an oval shaped object
3. the ovum

Declension

declension of egg

n-s	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	egg	eggið	egg	eggin
accusative	egg	eggið	egg	eggin
dative	eggi	egginu	eggjum	eggjunum
genitive	eggs	eggsins	eggja	eggjanna

Synonyms

• (ovum): eggfruma f

Derived terms

• arnaregg (“eagle's egg”)
• dúfuegg (“dove's egg”)
• eggjahvíta (“egg white”)
• eggjarauða, eggjablómi (“egg yolk”)
• eggjasalad
• eggjaskurn
• hrafnsegg (“raven's egg”)
• höggormsegg (“snake's egg”)
• kríuegg
• liggja á eggjum (“to brood, sit on eggs”)
• páskaegg
• verpa eggi (“to lay an egg”)
• álptaregg (“swan's egg”)
• æðaregg (“eider duck's egg”)

 

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

egg f (genitive singular eggjar, nominative plural eggjar)

1. (weaponry) the sharp edge of a knife, sword, or similar
2. a sharp edge on a mountain

Declension

declension of egg

f-s1	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	egg	eggin	eggjar	eggjarnar
accusative	egg	eggina	eggjar	eggjarnar
dative	egg	egginni	eggjum	eggjunum
genitive	eggjar	eggjarinnar	eggja	eggjanna

Synonyms

• (sharp edge): blað
• (mountain): fjallsegg

Derived terms

• fjallsegg
• með oddi og egg/með oddi og eggju

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Middle English

Noun

egg

1. Alternative form of egge (“egg”)

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Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

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)

1. an egg

   et kokt egg ― a boiled egg

Derived terms

• eggehvite
• eggekvite
• eggeplomme
• eggerøre
• eggformet
• eggstokk
• enegget
• påskeegg
• speilegg

 

Etymology 2

From Old Norse egg f

Noun

egg f, m (definite singular egga or eggen, indefinite plural egger, definite plural eggene)

1. (cutting) edge (e.g. of a knife)

Derived terms

• tveegget

References

• “egg” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “egg_1” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “egg_2” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

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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.

Noun

egg n (definite singular egget, indefinite plural egg, definite plural egga)

1. an egg

Derived terms

• eggekvite
• eggeplomme
• eggerøre
• eggstokk
• påskeegg
• speilegg

 

Etymology 2

From Old Norse egg f. Akin to English edge.

Noun

egg f, m (definite singular egga or eggen, indefinite plural egger or eggar, definite plural eggene or eggane)

1. an edge (the thin cutting side of the blade of an instrument, such as an ax, knife, sword, or scythe)

References

• “egg” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Old Norse

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *ajją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm.

Noun

egg n (genitive eggs, plural egg)

1. egg

Descendants

• Icelandic: egg
• Faroese: egg
• Norwegian: egg
• Old Swedish: æg
  • Swedish: ägg
• Danish: æg
• Dalian: egg
• Scanian: ægg
• Westrobothnian: aigg
• → Middle English: egge
  • English: egg
    • Jamaican Creole: eg
  • Scots: eg, egg

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *agjō. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”).

Noun

egg f (genitive eggjar, plural eggjar)

2. edge (of a blade)

Descendants

• Icelandic: egg
• Faroese: egg
• Norwegian: egg (Bokmål), egg (Nynorsk)
• Old Swedish: eg
  • Swedish: egg
• Danish: æg
• Dalian: egg
• Westrobothnian: aigg

References

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic‎^[3], Oxford: Clarendon Press

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Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse egg, from Proto-Germanic *agjō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp, pointed”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛɡː/
• Homophone: ägg

Noun

egg c

1. The sharp edge of a cutting tool.

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)