• (RP, America) enPR: ĕg, IPA: /ɛɡ/
• (some Canadian and US accents) enPR: āg, IPA: /eɪɡ/

The noun is derived from Middle English eg, egg, egge [and other forms] (originally Northern England and Northeast Midlands), from Old Norse egg, from Proto-Germanic *ajją (by Holtzmann's law), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm, probably from *h₂éwis, from *h₂ew- (in the sense of an animal clothed in feathers).

The native English ey [and other forms] (plural eyren) (obsolete), from Old English ǣġ, is also derived from Proto-Germanic *ajją.

The verb is derived from the noun.

egg

1. (countable, zoology)
   1. An approximately spherical or ellipsoidal body produced by birds, insects, reptiles, and other animals, housing the embryo within a membrane or shell during its development.
      • 1535 October 14 (Gregorian calendar), Myles Coverdale, transl., Biblia: The Byble, […] (Coverdale Bible), [Cologne or Marburg]: [Eucharius Cervicornus and Johannes Soter?], →OCLC ↗, Job xxxix:[13–15], folio xi, recto ↗, column 2:

        The Eſtrich (whoſe fethers are fayrer thẽ y^e wynges of the ſparow hauke) whẽ he hath layd his egges vpon the grounde, he bredeth them in the duſt, and forgetteth them: ſo that they might be troden with feete, or broken with ſomme wilde beaſt.

      • 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act II, scene i], page 114 ↗, column 1:

        [T]hinke him as a Serpents egge, / VVhich hatch'd, vvould as his kinde grovv mischieuous; / And kill him in the ſhell.

      • 1657, Samuel Purchas, “Of the Generation of Bees”, in A Theatre of Politicall Flying-Insects. […], London: […] R. I. for Thomas Parkhurst, […], →OCLC ↗, pages 47–48 ↗:

        An egg properly is that, out of a part vvhereof a living creature is produced, and the reſidue is meat for it, improperly that is an egg out of the vvhole vvhereof, a living creature is bred, as the eggs of Spiders, Ants, Flies.

      • 1791, Oliver Goldsmith, “Of Quadrupeds in General, Compared to Man”, in An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature. […], new edition, volume II, London: […] F[rancis] Wingrave, successor to Mr. [John] Nourse, […], →OCLC ↗, pages 311–312 ↗:

        [T]here is one claſs of quadrupeds that ſeems entirely left to chance, […] Theſe are the quadrupeds that are brought forth from the egg, ſuch as the lizard, the tortoiſe, and the crocodile. […] [T]he numerous brood of eggs are, vvithout farther ſolicitude, buried in the vvarm ſands of the ſhore, and the heat of the ſun alone is left to bring them to perfection.

      1. (specifically, countable) The edible egg (sense 1.1) of a domestic fowl such as a duck, goose, or, especially, a chicken; (uncountable) the contents of such an egg or eggs used as food.

         Synonyms: ey, huevo, oeuf

         We made a big omelette with three eggs.

         I should determine the minimal amount of egg required to make good mayonnaise.

         The farmer offered me some fresh eggs, but I told him I was allergic to egg.

         • c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, →OCLC ↗, [Act II, scene i] ↗:

           [T]hey are vp already, and cal for Egges and butter, they vvil avvay preſently.

         • 1732, John Arbuthnot, “Practical Rules of Diet in the Various Constitutions and Diseases of Human Bodies. Chapter I. Of the Different Qualities and Effects of Alimentary Substances.”, in An Essay Concerning the Nature of Aliments, and the Choice of Them, According to the Different Constitutions of Human Bodies. […], 3rd edition, London: […] J[acob] Tonson […], published 1735, →OCLC ↗, page 261 ↗:

           Eggs are perhaps the higheſt, moſt nouriſhing and exalted of all animal Food, and moſt indigeſtible, becauſe no body can take and digeſt the ſame Quantity of them as of other Food.

         • 1851 June – 1852 April, Harriet Beecher Stowe, “An Evening in Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, in Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life among the Lowly, volume I, Boston, Mass.: John P[unchard] Jewett & Company; Cleveland, Oh.: Jewett, Proctor & Worthington, published 20 March 1852, →OCLC ↗, page 39 ↗:

           A round, black, shining face is hers, so glossy as to suggest the idea that she might have washed over with white of eggs, like one of her own tea rusks.

      2. (by extension, countable) A food item shaped to resemble an egg (sense 1.1.1), such as a chocolate egg.
   2. (also, cytology) Synonym of ovum; an egg cell.
2. (countable) A thing which looks like or is shaped like an egg (sense 1.1).
   • 1621 August 13 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Ben Jonson, “The Masque of the Gypsies”, in Q. Horatius Flaccus: His Art of Poetry. […], London: […] J[ohn] Okes, for John Benson […], published 1640, →OCLC ↗, page 84 ↗:

     His ſtomacke vvas queaſie (for comming there Coacht) / The jogging had caus’d ſome crudities riſe; / To help it he call’d for a Puritan poacht, / That uſed to turne up the egg’s of his eyes.

     Referring to the whites of the eyes.

   • 1659 December 30 (date written), Robert Boyle, “[Experiment 20]”, in New Experiments Physico-Mechanicall, Touching the Spring of the Air, and Its Effects, (Made, for the Most Part, in a New Pneumatical Engine) […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] H[enry] Hall, printer to the University, for Tho[mas] Robinson, published 1660, →OCLC ↗, page 144 ↗:

     There vvas taken a great Glaſs-bubble, vvith a long neck; (ſuch as Chymiſts are vvont to call a Philoſophical Egg) vvhich being fill'd vvith common VVater till the Liquor reach'd about a ſpan above the bubble, and a piece of Paper being there paſted on, vvas put unſtop'd into the Receiver, […]

   1. A swelling on one's head, usually large or noticeable, resulting from an injury.

      Synonyms: goose egg

   2. (architectural element) Chiefly in egg and dart: an ornamental oval moulding alternating in a row with dart or triangular shapes.
   3. (chiefly, sports) A score of zero; specifically (cricket), a batter's failure to score; a duck egg or duck's egg.

      Synonyms: goose egg, love

   4. (military, dated) A bomb or mine.
3. (countable, figuratively)
   1. Senses relating to people.
      1. (informal, dated) A person; a fellow.

         a bad egg    a good egg    a tough egg    Cheerio, old egg!

         • 1903, Rudyard Kipling, “‘Their Lawful Occasions’—Part II”, in Traffics and Discoveries, London: Macmillan and Co., published 1904, →OCLC ↗, page 138 ↗:

           'Good egg!' quoth Moorshed, and brought his hand down on the wide shoulders with the smack of a beaver's tail.

         • 1910 February, John Galsworthy, Justice: A Tragedy in Four Acts, London: Duckworth and Co. […], published March 1910, →OCLC ↗, Act I, page 15 ↗:

           Walter. The woman we passed as we came in just now. Is it his wife? / Cokeson. No, no relation. [Restraining what in jollier circumstances would have been a wink] A married person, though. […] James. A real bad egg.

         • 1915 September 3, Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, chapter XI, in Something New, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC ↗, page 326 ↗:

           "She isn't going to sue me for breach of promise?" / "She never had any intention of doing so." / The Honorable Freddie sank back on the pillows. / "Good egg!" he said with fervor. He beamed happily. "This," he observed, "is a bit of all right."

         • 1920, John Galsworthy, “On Forsyte ’Change”, in In Chancery (The Forsyte Saga; 2), London: William Heinemann, →OCLC ↗, part I, page 100 ↗:

           They tell me at Timothy's […] that Dartie has gone off at last. That'll be a relief to your father. He was a rotten egg.

         • 1937 July 24 – September 11, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter I, in Summer Moonshine, 1st UK edition, London: Herbert Jenkins […], published 1938, →OCLC ↗, page 18 ↗:

           "She's a tough egg." / "She must be, if she slung your brother Joe out."

      2. (derogatory, ethnic slur, rare) A white person considered to be overly infatuated with East Asia.

         Hypernyms: race traitor

         Hyponyms: Koreaboo, wapanese, weeaboo, weeb, wumao

      3. (Internet slang, derogatory, dated) A user of the microblogging service Twitter identified by the default avatar (historically an image of an egg (sense 1.1.1)) rather than a custom image; hence, a newbie or noob.
      4. (transgender slang) A person regarded as having not yet realized they are transgender, who has not yet come out as transgender, or who is in the early stages of transitioning; also, one's lack of awareness that one is transgender.

         to crack someone's egg

      5. (New Zealand, derogatory) A foolish or obnoxious person.

         Shut up, you egg!

      6. (derogatory, obsolete) A young person.
         • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act IV, scene ii], page 145 ↗, column 2:

           VVhat you Egge? / Yong fry of Treachery?

   2. (archaic) Something regarded as containing a (usually bad) thing at an early stage.
   3. (computing) One of the blocks of data injected into a program's address space for use by certain forms of shellcode, such as "omelettes".

see egg/translations

egg (eggs, present participle egging; simple past and past participle egged)

1. (transitive)
   1. To throw (especially rotten) eggs (noun sense 1.1.1) at (someone or something).

      The angry demonstrators egged the riot police.

      The students were caught egging the principal’s car as a prank.

   2. To inadvertently or intentionally distort (the circular cross-section of something, such as tube) to an elliptical or oval shape.

      After I cut the tubing, I found that I had slightly egged it in the vise.

   3. (cooking) To coat (a food ingredient) with or dip (a food ingredient) in beaten egg (noun sense 1.1.1) during the process of preparing a dish.
      • [1833, [Frederick Marryat], chapter I, in Peter Simple. […], volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […], published 1834, →OCLC ↗, page 8 ↗:

        "Jemima, Jemima!—ve'll ha'e the viting biled instead of fried." "Ca'n't, marm," replied Jemima, "they be all hegged and crumbed, with their tails in their mouths."]

2. (intransitive) To collect the eggs (noun sense 1.1) of wild birds.

• French: jeter des oeufs
• Portuguese: jogar ovos em
• Spanish: lanzar huevos a, tirar huevos a

From Middle English eggen, from Old Norse eggja, from egg, from Proto-Germanic *agjō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ-.

• Danish ægge, egge
• Faroese eggja
• Icelandic eggja

egg (eggs, present participle egging; simple past and past participle egged)

1. (transitive, obsolete except in egg on) To encourage, incite, or urge (someone).

   Synonyms: edge, provoke, tempt

   • 1571, Arthur Golding, “To the Right Honorable and His Verie Good Lord Edward de Vere Erle of Oxinford, […]”, in John Calvin, translated by Arthur Golding, The Psalmes of Dauid and Others. VVith M. Iohn Caluin’s Commentaries, London: […] Thomas East and Henry Middelton; for Lucas Harison, and G[e]orge Byshop, →OCLC ↗, 1st part, folio iiij, recto ↗:

     [Y]it haue vvee one thing in our ſelues and of our ſelues, (euen originall ſinne, concupiſcence or luſt) vvhich neuer ceaſeth too egge vs and allure vs from God, and too ſtaine vs vvith all kinde of vnclennes: […]

   • 1610 October, John Foxe, Actes and Monuments of Matters Most Speciall and Memorable, Happening in the Church, with an Vniuersall Historie of the Same. […], 6th edition, volume I, London: […] [Humphrey Lownes] for the Company of Stationers, →OCLC ↗, book IV, page 299 ↗, column 1:

     Thus time paſſing on, within a yeere following, which was in the yeere of our Lord 1261. the king [Henry III of England] ſeeing himſelfe more and more to grow in debt, and not to bee relieued according to promiſe made, but eſpecially being egged (as may be thought) by his brethren taking it to ſtomach, ſent vp to the pope, both for him and his ſonne Edward to bee releaſed of their oth made before at Oxford.

   • 1877, William Morris, “Regin Telleth Sigurd of His Kindred, and of the Gold that was Accursed from Ancient Days”, in The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs, London: Ellis and White, […], →OCLC ↗, book II (Regin), page 93 ↗:

     Nought such do I look to be. / But thou, a deedless man, too much thou eggest me: […]

• German: anfeuern, anstacheln, antreiben
• Spanish: empujar, incitar

1. Surname.
2. (automotive, informal) A Koenigsegg car.

egg (uncountable)

1. Init of electroglottography