wagtailn.

Brit.

/ˈwaɡteɪl/, U.S.

/ˈwæɡˌteɪl/

Etymology: < wag v. + tail n.¹ Compare wagstart n. and French hochequeue.

a. A small bird belonging to one of the species of the genus Motacilla or the family Motacillidæ, so called from the continual characteristic wagging motion of the tail. In Great Britain chiefly applied to M. lugubris, ‘the Pied Wagtail of authors’ (Newton), called also water wagtail.

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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [noun] > family Motacillidae

wagstartc1440

wagtail1510

1510 J. Stanbridge Vocabula (W. de W.) C vj Motatula, a wag tayle.

a1529 J. Skelton Phyllyp Sparowe (?1545) sig. B.ii^v The goldfynche, the wagtayle.

?1550 H. Llwyd tr. Pope John XXI Treasury of Healthe sig. N.vii A special remedy [for the stone] after Auicen, is a wagtayle.

1604 Wit of Woman sig. C2 I..had my spirit as full of life as a wagtayle, but now the case is altered.

1658 J. Rowland tr. T. Moffett Theater of Insects in Topsell's Hist. Four-footed Beasts (rev. ed.) 946 All those Birds called Wagtails (if I am not deceived) live upon Flies.

1748 S. Richardson Clarissa III. lxxvi. 352 I always illustrated my eagleship..by disdaining to make a stoup at wrens, phil-tits, and wagtails.

1773 G. White Let. 9 Nov. in Nat. Hist. Selborne (1789) 99 Wagtails, all sorts, remain with us all the winter.

1876 S. Smiles Life Sc. Naturalist xiii. 260 The melancholy note of the Wagtail.

b. With qualifying words, indicating native country, colour, habits, etc.Chiefly species of Motacilla, or species formerly referred to that genus.

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1668 W. Charleton Onomasticon Zoicon 90 Motacilla Flava, the Yellow wagtail.

1676 F. Willughby & J. Ray Ornithologiæ ii. xvii. 172 Motacilla cinerea... The grey Wagtail.

1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. ii. xvii. 237 The white Wagtail.

1783 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds II. ii. 396–402 [Mentions Collared, Pied, Indian, Yellow, Yellow-headed, Cape or African Wagtail].

1802 G. Montagu Ornithol. Dict. (at cited word) Wagtail, Grey... Provincial. Winter Wagtail.

1802 G. Montagu Ornithol. Dict. (at cited word) Wagtail, Yellow... Provincial. Spring, or Summer Wagtail.

1863 S. Baring-Gould Iceland 332 A coppice of birch, among which darted the redwing and white wagtail.

1884 E. Coues Key to N. Amer. Birds (ed. 2) iii. 284 Motacilla ocularis. Siberian Wagtail.

1896 A. Newton et al. Dict. Birds: Pt. IV 1018 The so-called Grey Wagtail of Britain.

2. Applied to other birds.

a. U.S. One of the water-thrushes, Seiurus nævius or S. motacilla ( Cent. Dict. 1891).

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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > arboreal families > family Parulidae (wood warbler) > [noun] > genus Seiurus (water-thrush)

water-wagtail1759

waterthrush1811

ovenbird1831

accentor1841

water waga1866

wagtail1869

wagtail-warbler1884

1869 J. Burroughs in Galaxy Mag. Aug. 176 I have already spoken of..the two species of water-thrush or wagtails, and the oven-bird, or wood-wagtail.

Categories »

b. Australian. The black-and-white fantail, Rhipidura tricolor, also called the wagtail flycatcher n. at Compounds 2 (Morris Austral English, 1898).

Categories »

c. dialect. The dunlin (Montagu Ornith. Dict., 1802).

†3. transferred.

a. A familiar or contemptuous epithet or form of address applied to a man or young woman. Obsolete.

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the world > people > person > [noun]

hadc900

lifesmaneOE

maneOE

world-maneOE

ghostOE

wyeOE

lifeOE

son of manOE

wightc1175

soulc1180

earthmanc1225

foodc1225

person?c1225

creaturec1300

bodyc1325

beera1382

poppetc1390

flippera1400

wat1399

corsec1400

mortal?a1425

deadly?c1450

hec1450

personagec1485

wretcha1500

human1509

mundane1509

member1525

worma1556

homo1561

piece of flesh1567

sconce1567

squirrel?1567

fellow creature1572

Adamite1581

bloat herringa1586

earthling1593

mother's child1594

stuff1598

a piece of flesh1600

wagtail1607

bosom1608

fragment1609

boots1623

tick1631

worthy1649

earthlies1651

snap1653

pippin1665

being1666

personal1678

personality1678

sooterkin1680

party1686

worldling1687

human being1694

water-wagtail1694

noddle1705

human subject1712

piece of work1713

somebody1724

terrestrial1726

anybody1733

individual1742

character1773

cuss1775

jig1781

thingy1787

bod1788

curse1790

his nabs1790

article1796

Earthite1814

critter1815

potato1815

personeityc1816

nibs1821

somebody1826

tellurian1828

case1832

tangata1840

prawn1845

nigger1848

nut1856

Snooks1860

mug1865

outfit1867

to deliver the goods1870

hairpin1879

baby1880

possum1894

hot tamale1895

babe1900

jobbie1902

virile1903

cup of tea1908

skin1914

pisser1918

number1919

job1927

apple1928

mush1936

face1944

jong1956

naked ape1965

oke1970

punter1975

1607 T. Middleton Michaelmas Terme iii. sig. E4^v Wag-taile, salute them all they are friendes.

1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear vii. 66 This ancient ruffen sir, whose life I haue spar'd at sute of his gray-beard... spare my gray beard you wagtayle.

1656 tr. J. A. Comenius Latinæ Linguæ Janua Reserata: Gate Lat. Tongue Unlocked lxiv. §632 A wagtail or busibody desiring to know many things beyond measure, and being unable to bee satisfied with enquiries.

1732 H. Fielding Old Debauchees i. i. 2 Good-morrow, my little Wag-tail—my Grass-hopper, my Butterfly.

1783 J. O'Keeffe Birth-day 30 To dangle, frisk, and hop about like an impertinent wag-tail as you are.

†b. esp. A contemptuous term for a profligate or inconstant woman; hence, a harlot, courtesan.Common in the 17th cent.

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society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > [noun] > sexual indulgence > unchaste behaviour of woman > unchaste or loose woman

queanOE

whorec1175

malkinc1275

wenchelc1300

ribalda1350

strumpeta1350

wench1362

filtha1375

parnelc1390

sinner14..

callet1415

slut?c1425

tickle-tailc1430

harlot?a1475

mignote1489

kittock?a1500

mulea1513

trulla1516

trully?1515

danta1529

miswoman1528

stewed whore1532

Tib1533

unchaghe1534

flag1535

Katy1535

jillet1541

yaud1545

housewife1546

trinkletc1550

whippet1550

Canace1551

filthy1553

Jezebel1558

kittyc1560

loonc1560

laced mutton1563

nymph1563

limmer1566

tomboy1566

Marian1567

mort1567

cockatrice1568

franion1571

blowze1573

rannell1573

rig1575

Kita1577

poplet1577

light-skirts1578

pucelle1578

harlotry1584

light o' lovea1586

driggle-draggle1588

wagtail1592

tub-tail1595

flirt-gill1597

minx1598

hilding1599

short-heels1599

bona-roba1600

flirt1600

Hiren1600

light-heels1602

roba1602

baggage1603

cousin1604

fricatrice1607

rumbelow1611

amorosa1615

jaya1616

open-taila1618

succubus1622

snaphancea1625

flap1631

buttered bun1638

puffkin1639

vizard1652

fallen woman1659

tomrigg1662

cunt1663

quaedama1670

jilt1672

crack1677

grass-girl1691

sporting girl1694

sportswoman1705

mobbed hood1707

brim1736

trollop1742

trub1746

demi-rep1749

gillyflower1757

lady of easy virtue1766

mot1773

chicken1782

gammerstang1788

buer1807

scarlet woman1816

blowen1819

fie-fie1820

shickster?1834

streel1842

charver1846

trolly1854

bad girl1855

amateur1862

anonyma1862

demi-virgin1864

pickup1871

chippy1885

wish-wife1886

tart1887

tartleta1890

flossy1893

fly girl1893

demi-mondaine1894

floozy1899

slattern1899

scrub1900

demi-vierge1908

cake1909

coozie1912

muff1914

tarty1918

yes-girl1920

radge1923

bike1945

puta1948

messer1951

cooze1955

jamette1965

skeezer1986

slutbag1987

chickenhead1988

ho1988

1592 J. Lyly Midas i. i If therefore thou make not thy mistress a goldfinch, thou mayst chance to find her a wagtaile.

1608 T. Middleton Trick to catch Old-one ii. sig. C If mene bee wagges, are there not women wagtayles?

1635 J. Shirley Traytor ii. i Join to make her Supple and pliant for the Duke: I hope We are not the first have been advanced by a wagtail.

1694 P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais 5th Bk. Wks. Pantagr. Prognost. 237 Hedge-whores, Wagtails, Cockatrices, Whipsters.

1710 Brit. Apollo 22–24 May Like Paris with his Gleek of Wagtails on Ida.

4. An artificial minnow used in trout-fishing.

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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > means of attracting fish > [noun] > bait > artificial bait

minnow1655

grasshopper1676

kill-devil1833

artificial1847

spoon1857

phantom minnow1867

spoon-baitc1878

bone-squid1883

phantom1883

spoon-hook1888

whisky-bobby1904

wagtail1906

1906 Macmillan's Mag. Nov. 26 Shortly after there was a pull at the rod from which the wagtail was fishing.

5. Joinery. A parting-strip (see parting strip n. at parting n. Compounds 2) used in the construction of a sash window.

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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > parts of windows > [noun] > glazing or dividing bar

monial1332

sodlet1332

stay-bar1399

transom1502

mullion1556

munnion1571

calm1577

leading1597

window bar1612

stroke1684

came1688

leads1705

saddle-bar?1733

transom-shaft1813

sash bar1837

baluster1844

baluster column1844

supermonial1846

supermullion1846

astragal1858

wagtail1940

1940 in Chambers's Techn. Dict.

1950 M. T. Telling Carpentry & Joinery 43 To prevent this happening a long thin sliver of wood called a parting slip or wagtail is placed between them [sc. the weights] inside the box.

Compounds

C1. wagtail-family, wagtail-minnow.

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1882 Hist. Berwickshire Naturalists' Club 9 No. iii. 504 Of the Wagtail family, the Pied Wagtail, and the Grey and Yellow Wagtail, visited the Lake.

1906 Macmillan's Mag. Nov. 25 A green and silver wagtail minnow.

C2.

wag-tail dance n. = waggle dance n. at waggle n. 2.

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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > member of family Apidae (honey-bee) > waggle dance

wag-tail dance1949

wagging dance1950

waggle dance1952

1949 C. G. Butler Honeybee viii. 120 Von Frisch described two dances, a round-dance and a wag-tail dance.

1973 R. A. Morse Compl. Guide Beekeeping xiii. 203 Certain races of bees use a dance intermediate between the round dance and the wag-tail dance incorporating parts of both.

wagtail flycatcher n. = 2b.

wagtail kite n. a toy kite with a wagging or swinging tail.Apparently an isolated use.

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society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > other toys > [noun] > kite

kite1664

box kite1896

wagtail kite1922

1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xv. [Circe] 476 Ragged barefoot newsboys jogging a wagtail kite.

wagtail-warbler n. = 2a.

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