Etymology

Derivation from the ON n. represented by OIcel baggi 'bag, bundle, pack' (cp. MDu bagghe) could explain the first appearence of this common n. in English in the 13c. The obscure ult. etymology of the root, however, complicates the picture: it is uncertain whether OFr bague and Latin bagga derive from Germanic themselves, and they could additionally represent alternative sources for the ME word (or even the Norse (so de Vries)) (see further Dance 2003: 410-11 and Kroonen).

PGmc Ancestor

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

baggi 'bag, bundle, pack'
(ONP baggi (sb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Far baggi, Icel baggi, Norw dial bagge, bagg, Sw dial bagge

OE Cognate

Phonological and morphological markers

Summary category

BB2a

Attestation

First cited by MED and OED from AW, and widespread thereafter, incl. PP, Chaucer and Lydgate.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Pat 158; WA 123

Bibliography

MED bagge (n.1) , OED bag (n.) , HTOED , Bj. 228-29, de Vries baggi, Mag. baggi, Kroonen *pakka-