[go: up one dir, main page]
Advertisement

Origin and history of aggie

aggie(n.1)

"college student studying agriculture," by 1880, American English college slang, from ag, abbreviation of agriculture, + -ie.

aggie(n.2)

type of toy marble, by 1905, American English, colloquial shortening of agate (q.v.).

Excited groups gather about rude circles scratched in the mud, and there is talk of "pureys," and "reals," and "aggies," and "commies," and "fen dubs!" There is a rich click about the bulging pockets of the boys, and every so often in school time something drops on the floor and rolls noisily across the room. When Miss Daniels asks: "Who did that?" the boys all look so astonished. Who did what pray tell? [McClure's magazine, May 1905]

also from 1905

Entries linking to aggie

ag(n.)

abbreviation of agriculture, attested from 1830s (in Secretary of Ag., etc.); by 1880s in reference to college courses, American English.

agate(n.)

variety of banded, colored quartz, 1560s, from French agate, from Latin achates, from Greek akhatēs, the name of a river in Sicily where the stones were found (Pliny). But the river could as easily be named for the stone.

Earlier in English as achate (early 13c.), directly from Latin. The Elizabethan sense of "a diminutive person" is from the small figures cut in agates for seals, etc., and the notion of smallness is preserved in typographer's agate (1838), the U.S. name of the 5.5-point font called in Great Britain ruby. Meaning "toy marble made of glass resembling agate" is from 1843 (colloquially called an aggie). Related: Agatine.

Advertisement

More to explore

agriculture
mid-15c., "tillage, cultivation of large areas of land to provide food," from Late Latin agricultura "cultivation of the land," a contraction of agri cultura "cultivation of land," from agri, genitive of ager "a field" (from PIE root *agro- "field") + cultura "cultivation" (see c
cat
Old English catt (c. 700) "domestic cat," from West Germanic (c. 400-450), from Proto-Germanic *kattuz (source also of Old Frisian katte, Old Norse köttr, Dutch kat, Old High German kazza, German Katze), from Late Latin cattus. The near-universal European word now, it appeared in
dilettante
1733, "an admirer of a fine art, literature, science, etc., one who cultivates an art or literature casually and for amusement," a borrowing of Italian dilettante "lover of music or painting," from dilettare "to delight," from Latin delectare "to allure, delight, charm, please,"
Tuesday
third day of the week, Old English tiwesdæg, from Tiwes, genitive of Tiw "Tiu," from Proto-Germanic *Tiwaz "god of the sky," the original supreme deity of ancient Germanic mythology, differentiated specifically as Tiu, ancient Germanic god of war, from PIE *deiwos "god," from roo
dogma
"a settled opinion, a principle held as being firmly established," c. 1600 (in plural dogmata), from Latin dogma "philosophical tenet," from Greek dogma (genitive dogmatos) "opinion, tenet," literally "that which one thinks is true," from dokein "to seem good, think" (from PIE ro
courage
c. 1300, corage, "heart (as the seat of emotions)," hence "spirit, temperament, state or frame of mind,"from Old French corage "heart, innermost feelings; temper" (12c., Modern French courage), from Vulgar Latin *coraticum (source of Italian coraggio, Spanish coraje), from Latin
hormone
"organic compound produced in animal bodies to regulate activity and behavior," 1905, from Greek hormon "that which sets in motion," present participle of horman "impel, urge on," from horme "onset, impulse," from PIE *or-sma-, from root *er- (1) "to move, set in motion." Used by
solicit
early 15c., soliciten, "to disturb, trouble, arouse, excite," from Old French soliciter, solliciter (14c.) and directly from Latin solicitare, sollicitare "to disturb, rouse, trouble, harass; stimulate, provoke," from sollicitus "agitated," from sollus "whole, entire" (from PIE r
Munchkin
1900, coined by U.S. author L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) in "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." He never explained how he got the word. The word most like it is perhaps mutchkin, an old Scottish measure of capacity for liquids, which was used by Scott. (It comes from Middle Dutch mutseken
holiday
1500s, earlier haliday (c. 1200), from Old English haligdæg "holy day, consecrated day, religious anniversary; Sabbath," from halig "holy" (see holy) + dæg "day" (see day); in 14c. meaning both "religious festival" and "day of exemption from labor and recreation," but pronunciati

Share aggie

Advertisement
Trending
Dictionary entries near aggie
Advertisement