stag
/stæɡ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.25 in modern English
5
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An adult male deer, especially a red deer and especially one in high adulthood versus a young adult.
Countable
noun
An improperly or late castrated bull or ram – also called a bull seg (see note under ox).
Countable
noun
One who applies for the allotment of shares in new projects, with a view to sell immediately at a premium, and not to hold the stock.
Countable
Example Sentences
- "The city recently carried out a deer census, determining there are 313 stags (males), 798 does (females) and 214 fawns (babies) in Nara Park."
- "a stag dance; a stag party; a stag bar"
- "The stag will be held in the hotel's ballroom."
- "The stag gets a thrill from watching his vixen have sex with another man."
- "We had two disturbers of the harmony of the ship; I mean two stags or informers, one named Robert Wilson, the other John Hewit, from the north of Ireland."
- "Between shifts on stag or manning the radio, we grabbed a few hours sleep."
Etymology
From Middle English stagge, steg, from Old English stagga, stacga (“a stag”) and possibly Old Norse steggi, steggr (“a male animal”), both from Proto-Germanic *staggijô, *staggijaz (“male, male deer, porcupine”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *stegʰ-, *stengʰ- (“to sting; rod, blade; sharp, stiff”). Doublet of steg (“gander”). Cognate with Icelandic steggi, steggur (“tomcat, male fox”). Related to staggard, staggon.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /stæɡ/
- British English: /stæɡ/