Etymology

ME wag(g)en has been interpreted by most commentators as native, as the stem (the a-grade of the common st. v. PGmc *wegan-, cp. Go ga-wigan 'move, shake', OIcel vega 'move, carry, lift, weigh, OE wegan 'move, bear, carry etc.') occurs in the OE wk. v. wagian 'move, shake, swing, totter', surviving as ME wawen. As well as the cognate v. represented by OIcel vaga 'wag, waddle', ON had a fem. n. represented by OIcel vagga 'cradle' (and perhaps derived on it, various verbs in the modern Scandinavian languages, e.g. Far vagga 'rock, stagger'), which Orel interprets as a derivation on the v. with expressive gemination (and thus cognate with OS, OHG waga in the same sense). There is evidence for similar parallel iterative formations in WGmc as well, however, e.g. MDu waggen (st.) 'shake, waver' (see further Kroonen), and so a similar native development in English is perfectly plausible. That said, it is impossible to rule out potential influence or reinforcement (so MED) from the ON words.

PGmc Ancestor

*wag-
 

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

vaga 'wag, waddle', cp. vagga (n.) 'cradle'
(ONP *vaga (vb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Icel vaga, Norw vaga; cp. Far vagga, Icel vagga, Norw vagga, Sw dial vagga

OE Cognate

cp. wagian 'move, shake, swing, totter'

Phonological and morphological markers

Summary category

CCC1a

Attestation

The first literary citation in MED and OED comes from c1230(?a1200) Ancr. (Corp-C 402), though MED has slightly earlier personal name evidence. It is common and widespread in ME, incl. Chaucer.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Cl 1484; Erk 256; WA 968

Bibliography

MED waggen (v.) , OED wag (v.) , HTOED , HTOED , Bj. 256, de Vries vaga, vagga, Mag. vaga (2), vagga, Orel *waʒōjan-, Kroonen *wakk/gōn, Seebold weg-a