quag

English

Alternative forms

• quaw
• quagh (rare, possibly obsolete)

Etymology

Uncertain. Most often suggested to be an alteration of Middle English quabbe (“a marsh, bog”), from Old English *cwabbe (“that which shakes or trembles, something soft and flabby”), from Proto-West Germanic *kwabbā (“soggy ground”); this is supported by 1590s attestations of quabmire for quagmire (other earlier variants are quamire, from the 1550s, and quavemire from the 1520s). It has alternatively been suggested to be related to quake, as quaggy ground quakes when trod.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /kwæɡ/, /kwɑɡ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kwæɡ/, /kwɒɡ/

Noun

quag (plural quags)

1. (obsolete) Quagmire; marsh; bog.
   • 1771 December 16, John Walker, Account of the Irruption of Solway Moss:

     If a person ventures on one of these quags, it bends in waves under his feet; and if the surface breaks, he is in danger of sinking to the bottom.

   • 1784, William Cowper, Tirocinium; or, a Review of Schools:

     Crooked or straight, through quags or thorny dells