α. 1500s–1700s Megg, 1500s– Meg, 1600s Megge; Scottish pre-1700 Megg, pre-1700 Meig, pre-1700 1700s– Meg.
β. 1600s– Mag, 1800s– Magg; Scottish pre-1700 1800s– Mag, 1700s Maag, 1800s Maug.
Also with lower-case initial.Megn.1
/mɛɡ/, U.S. /mɛɡ/ 1.
a. Chiefly British regional (frequently humorous or derogatory). A coarse, unsophisticated, or unattractive woman. (Long) Meg of Westminster n. a woman (perhaps fictional) famous in 16th-cent. London for having supposedly fought, disguised as a man, in the Anglo-French campaigns of 1544 (now historical); (allusively) a tall or masculine woman, a virago. (Quot. 1582 in N.E.D. is based on a forged title page.)Meg Dorts: see dort n.
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the mind > emotion > anger > irascibility > ill-naturedness > ill nature in woman or shrewishness > [noun] > shrew
scoldc1175
shrewc1386
viragoc1386
scolder1423
common scold1467
wild cat1570
vixen1575
callet1577
termagant1578
(Long) Meg of Westminster1589
butter whore1592
cotquean1593
scrattop1593
scoldsterc1600
butter-quean1613
Xantippea1616
fury1620
Tartar1669
fish-woman1698
cross-patch1699
Whitechapel fortune1734
brimstone1751
randy1762
fish-fag1786
rantipole1790
skellata1810
skimmington1813
targer1822
skellat-bell1827
catamaran1834
nagster1873
yenta1923
1568 D. Lindsay Suplication Syde Taillis in Wks. (1931) I. 120 Ane mureland Meg, that mylkis the ȝowis.
1572 R. Sempill Lament. Commounis Scotl. (single sheet) And we agane wald by ane Fraer of Fegges..and sell to landwart Megges.
1589 J. Lyly Pappe with Hatchet sig. C2 That Bastard Iunior complaines of brothells, and talkes of long Megg of Westminster.
1593 G. Harvey Pierces Supererogation 145 Phy, long Megg of Westminster would haue bene ashamed to disgrace her Sonday bonet with her Satterday witt.
1602 T. Dekker Satiro-mastix sig. F2v Tis thou makst me so, my Long Meg a Westminster, thou breedst a scab, thou ——.
1611 T. Middleton & T. Dekker Roaring Girle sig. Kv Was it your Megge of Westminsters courage, that rescued mee.
1619 in W. A. Jackson Rec. Court of Stationers' Company (1957) 113 I haue sold vnto Thomas Pavier and John Wright for seauen yeares theis Copies vnder written..Quippe for a Courtier. Long Meg of Westr.
1662 G. Torriano 2nd Alphabet Proverbial Phrases 142/1 Riuscir una pertica.., [To be] a tall spiny person, over-grown as to height, but as slank as a lath; the English say, A May-pole, of Men, and long Meg of Westminster, of Women.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Long-meg, a very tall Woman.
1813 W. Beattie Yule Feast (1871) 11 Twa bunching megs.
1821 W. Liddle Poems 157 The nimmest Meg amang them a' Will tipple w' a Jo an hour or twa.
1889 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. (ed. 2) at Meg An ohd meg! what's she cum her to-daay for? She's th'ugliest ohd meg I iver seed.
1962 G. Heyer Nonesuch xii. 186 Too much of a Long Meg for his taste, but a distinguished-looking woman.
b. British regional. Meg's diversion(s) (also delight) n. boisterous behaviour, antics.
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the world > action or operation > behaviour > other specific behaviour > [noun] > grotesque behaviour
antics1570
Meg's diversion1807
1807 C. I. M. Dibdin Mirth & Metre 134 More captures they've made Than the whole fighting trade... In the army, folks say, Mag's diversion they play.
1809 R. Bloomfield Poems ii. 194 ‘They're playing Meg's diversion at the Hall.’..Gilbert kept on, and at the Hall-door found The winking servants, where the jest went round.
1834 M. M. G. Dowling Othello Travestie i. iii The galley slaves Are playing mag's diversion on the waves.
1837 R. Southey Doctor IV. 250 Who was Magg? and what was his diversion?]
1866 H. T. Craven (title) Meg's Diversion.
1874 ‘S. Beauchamp’ Grantley Grange I. 202 Well, it were Meg's delight, sir; and in the middle on it all..he roars out [etc.].
1903 Eng. Dial. Dict. IV. 79/2 [N. Wiltshire] The huntsmen play Meg's diversions with the wheat in wet weather.
2. In names for large pieces of ordnance, esp. in Scotland, as deaf Meg, Great Mag, Muckle Meg, etc. Now historical.Earliest in Roaring Meg n. Mons Meg n. (also †Mounts-Meg) [perhaps < having been cast at Mons in Flanders] the great 15th-cent. cannon in Edinburgh Castle (cf. Roaring Meg n.).
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1489 in T. Dickson Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1877) I. 115 Gevin the gunnaris to drinksiluer quhen thai cartit Mons.
1501 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1900) II. 25 Item, for casting of the erd fra Mons, and to turne hir and lay the twych hole vp,..iij s. ij d.]
1575 U. Fulwell Flower of Fame 53v The Englishe men..shott off a great Iron peece they had, (which Gunne they called Roring Megge, for the terrible noyse that it rendered).
a1578 R. Lindsay Hist. & Cron. Scotl. (1899) II. 86 (note) [Two great cannonis,] Cruik mow and deaff Meg.
1650 in W. Scott Provinc. Antiq. (1826) p. xxi (note) The great iron murderer called Muckle Megg.
1650 Articles Rendition Edenb.-Castle 4 Three Iron Guns, besides the Great Mag.
1753 W. Maitland Hist. Edinb. 164 A huge Piece of Ordnance, resembling an old-fashioned Mortar..denominated Mounts-Megg.
1824 J. Mactaggart Sc. Gallovidian Encycl. 126 Mons Meg we'll drag out, and we'll thunner him down.
1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 5 Dinnelin Deaf Meg and Crookit Mou [sc. two Cannons] Begoud wi' ane terrific blatter At the great steeple's found to batter.
1867 B. J. Lossing Vassar College 48 They climbed three hundred feet above the Forth to the Castle on a rock, and were rewarded by the sight of its vast armory; ‘Mons Meg’, the huge Flemish cannon, wrought of bars and hoops of iron; and the regalia of the kings of Scotland.
1942 Scotsman 18 Apr. in Sc. National Dict. (at cited word) Will Mons Meg, veteran cannon at Edinburgh Castle..be included in the new drive for scrap in Scotland?
1997 Independent (Electronic ed.) 9 Aug. 10 Mons Meg, a huge medieval siege-gun, is another popular attraction—and further weaponry is on display in the Great Hall.
3. Meg-many-feet n. (also Meg-many-legs and variants) .
a. Scottish, Irish English, and English regional (northern). A centipede or millipede; (occasionally) another animal with many legs, as a crab or lobster. Cf. Meggie-many-feet n. at Meggie n. 1.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Myriapoda > [noun] > order Chilopoda > member of
scolopender1562
centipede1601
scolopendra1608
forty-foot1677
millipede1684
forty legs1697
thousand-feet1704
thousand-legs1807
Meg-many-feet1813
chilopodan1835
chilopod1837
twenty-foot worm-
1813 J. Headrick Gen. View Agric. Angus App. B 55 Cancer..pagurus, crab, or parten... [Cancer] gammarus; the lobster. Both these species are called in Angusshire by the name of Firy tangs, or Meg wi' the mony feet.
1824 J. Mactaggart Sc. Gallovidian Encycl. 410 I dinna like the Meg o' mony feet, Nor the brawnet Connochworm.
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. (at cited word) Meggy-Monyfeet, the centipede, Roxb[urghshire]; in other counties Meg-wi'-the-mony-feet.
1836 Wilson's Hist. Tales Borders II. 45 Ye lie whar the meg-o-mony-feet crawls on the green and yellow carrion.
1880 W. H. Patterson Gloss. Words Antrim & Down Meg-many-feet, a centipede.
1893 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words Meggy-monyfeet, the chocolate-coloured centipede. The form is also meg-o'-many-feet.
1899 E. W. Prevost Dickinson's Gloss. Words & Phrases Cumberland (new ed.) Meg-wi'-many-feet,..the centipede—Myriapoda.
1923 G. Watson Roxburghshire Word-bk. 209 Meg-wi'-the-mony-feet, the centipede.
1996 C. I. Macafee Conc. Ulster Dict. 214/2 Mag-mony-feet, meg-many-feet, meg-of-the-mony-feet, meg-wi-the-mony-feet; plural meg-munny-feets, 1. a centipede... 2. a millipede.
b. English regional (northern). Also Meg-wi'-many-teaz (i.e. toes). The creeping buttercup, Ranunculus repens.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > buttercup and allied flowers > buttercup
butterflower1527
kingcup1538
crow-flower1597
king-cob1597
gilt cup1610
pissabed1640
Goldilocks1650
craysec1652
buttercup1688
yellow cup1824
bulbous buttercup1844
goldballs1854
Meg-many-feet1878
clovewort1886
sitfast1901
1878 W. Dickinson Gloss. Dial. Cumberland (ed. 2) Meg-wi'-many-feet, Meg-wi'-many-teazz, the creeping crowfoot plant—Ranunculus repens.
1886 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names Meg-many-feet, or Meg-wi-mony-feet. Ranunculus repens, L.—So called on account of its numerous runners... Also Meg-wi-many-teazz (toes).
1899 E. W. Prevost Dickinson's Gloss. Words & Phrases Cumberland (new ed.) Meg-wi'-many-feet, Meg-wi'-many-teaz, Creeping buttercup—Ranunculus repens.
1955 G. Grigson Englishman's Flora 39 Creeping buttercup. Ranunculus repens..meg many feet, Cumb; meg wi' many teaz, Cumb, Lakes.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
megn.2
/mɛɡ/, U.S. /mɛɡ/ slang and regional. Now rare and historical.† 1. A guinea. Obsolete.
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society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > English coins > [noun] > guinea or twenty-one shillings
goldfinch1602
piece1631
yellow boy1654
Guinea1666
broad gold1688
meg1688
broad1710
George's guinea1721
yellow1722
canary bird1785
stranger1785
yellow George1785
Geordie1786
spade-guinea1853
George guinea1880
1688 T. Shadwell Squire of Alsatia i. i. 6 Sham. No no, Meggs are Guineas, Smelts are Half Guineas.
1691 Islington Wells 12 To see a Town not far from Dover, Butter'd with Megs and Smelts all over.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew at Equipt The Cull equipt me with a brace of Meggs.
1703 E. Ward Secret Hist. Calves-head Club xxi. 226 A Begging let's go for the Smelts and the Megs.
c1742 in W. Hone Every-day Bk. II. 527 Tickets to be had, for three Megs a Carcass.
2. British. A halfpenny; = mag n.2, make n.3 Also (U.S.): a one-cent coin; a nickel.
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society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > English coins > [noun] > halfpenny
halfpennyc1330
ob.1389
galley-halfpenny1409
obolusc1450
make?1536
mail1570
meg?1738
mag?1775
tumbling tom1826
magpie1838
?1738 Moll King (engraving) (Yale Univ., Lewis Walpole Libr. 738.00.00.03+) (caption) A Quartern of Max, is three Megs:—That makes a Traveller all but a Meg... Here, take your Traveller, & tip the Meg to the Kinchin.
1779 Session Papers 8 Dec. in E. Partridge Dict. Underworld (1949) 427 D—n it, I have got a man in the room, and I will have his greatcoat and boots, and every meg he has.
1789 G. Parker Life's Painter xv. 178 Half-penny. A meg.
1872 in J. Hartley Yorks. Ditties (ed. 2) 90 He wodn't pay a meg.
1914 L. E. Jackson & C. R. Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 57 Meig. General currency amongst cosmopolitans. A nickel; a five-cent piece... What's the tax for the scoffin's? Twenty-five meigs.
1915 N.Y. World Mag. 9 May (Suppl.) 14/2 Meg, a penny.
1929 Amer. Speech 4 357 For particular sums, we shall ascend the scale from a cent, which is a red or a meg.
1963 Sunday Times 15 Sept. 29/8 In Liverpool, circa 1898, bread was called chuck, a halfpenny a meg and a penny a win.
1984 Listener 16 Feb. 20/1 I remember, when quite small, hearing a halfpenny (old style) being referred to as a ‘meg’.
1988 H. Forrester Yes, Mama 130 You could work your heart out and give 'em everything you earned, without keeping a meg for yourself—but soon they'd be fed up with yez.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
Megn.3
/mɛɡ/, U.S. /mɛɡ/ An instrument designed for measuring earth and electrical insulation resistance. Cf. Megger n.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > transmission of electricity, conduction > non-conduction, insulation > [noun] > apparatus measuring resistance
Megger1903
Meg1923
1923 Nature 13 Jan. 63/2 The ‘Meg’ insulation tester.., a remarkably light and cheap megger running to 10,000 mgo. which should prove a boon to linemen.
1942 Trade Marks Jrnl. 11 Nov. 468/1 Meg... Electrical apparatus for testing insulation resistance and electrical apparatus for testing earth resistance, each comprising an electric generator and an electric measuring instrument.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
megn.4
/mɛɡ/, U.S. /mɛɡ/ colloquial. Now rare.
= megaphone n.
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the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > audibility > sound magnification or reproduction > [noun] > speaking trumpet or tube
trunk1546
speaking-trumpet1671
stentorophonic tube1686
whispering-trumpet1688
stentorian trumpet1690
trumpet1696
voice pipe1839
voice tube1839
whispering-tube1857
speaking-tube1889
megaphone1896
meg1937
loudhailer1941
bullhorn1955
1937 ‘C. McCabe’ Face on Cutting-room Floor vii. 53 Vic took the meg and shouted something at the camera people.
1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §75/1 Meg, megger, a megaphone.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
megn.5
/mɛɡ/, U.S. /mɛɡ/ colloquial.
= megohm n.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > resistance > [noun] > unit of resistance > one million
megohm1867
milliohm1867
meg1975
1975 Physics Bull. Oct. 460/1 (advt.) It measures voltages to 1200 volts, currents to 2 amps. and resistances to 2000 megs.
1982 Giant Bk. Electronics Projects x. 463 Each player control consists of a 1 meg pot and .1 microfarad capacitor.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
megn.6
/mɛɡ/, U.S. /mɛɡ/ Computing colloquial.
= megabyte n.
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society > computing and information technology > data > [noun] > unit of
bit1948
megabit1957
byte1964
MB1965
megabyte1965
packet1966
nibble1967
Mbit1968
Mbyte1972
MSB1972
meg1983
1983 Electronic News 4 Apr. 1 A 3081K with 48 megs of real storage..can achieve an additional throughput improvement of 10 per cent.
1987 Byte Dec. 133/2 The card holds 2 megs when fully populated.
1992 Tucson (Arizona) Weekly 23 Sept. 3/2 I type on a 386PC with 80-meg hard drive, 5 megs of RAM, color VGA monitor,..and much more.
1998 Chicago Tribune 6 July iv. 6/2 Those interested in any and all kinds of aquariums will find over 10 megs of info here.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.11568n.21688
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