# hag

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈhæɡ/ · frequency rank #30,075

## Definitions
1. A witch, sorceress, or enchantress; a female wizard.
2. An ugly old woman.
3. An evil woman.
4. A woman.
5. A fury; a she-monster.
6. A hagfish; one of various eel-like fish of the family Myxinidae, allied to the lamprey, with a suctorial mouth, labial appendages, and a single pair of gill openings.
7. A hagdon or shearwater; one of various sea birds of the genus Puffinus.
8. An appearance of light and fire on a horse's mane or a person's hair.
9. The fruit of the hagberry, Prunus padus.
10. Sleep paralysis.

## Etymology
From Middle English hagge, hegge (“demon, old woman”), shortening of Old English hægtesse, hægtes (“harpy, witch”), from Proto-West Germanic *hagatussjā. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Häkse (“witch”), Dutch heks, German Hexe (“witch”). Doublet of hex.

## Easily confused with
- **he** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hag-vs-he)
- **hi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hag-vs-hi)
- **HD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hag-vs-hd)
- **ho** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hag-vs-ho)
- **HR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hag-vs-hr)
- **HP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hag-vs-hp)
- **hm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hag-vs-hm)
- **HQ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hag-vs-hq)
- **hc** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hag-vs-hc)
- **Hu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hag-vs-hu)
- **HK** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hag-vs-hk)
- **HB** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hag-vs-hb)
- **HG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hag-vs-hg)
- **HH** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hag-vs-hh)
- **hv** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hag-vs-hv)
- **hn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hag-vs-hn)
- **his** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hag-vs-his)
- **has** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hag-vs-has)
- **her** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hag-vs-her)
- **how** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hag-vs-how)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/hag