Sag

How to spell sag

3 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce sag

What does sag mean?

1. verbTo sink, droop, or bend downward under weight or pressure.
2. nounA downward bend, droop, or dip in something that should be level or taut.

Sag in a sentence

• verb

  The old mattress began to sag in the middle after years of use.

• noun

  The builder noticed a slight sag in the wooden beam.

• verb

  Heavy snow can make a flat roof sag dangerously.

• noun

  A noticeable sag in the washing line showed the wet sheets were too heavy.

Where does sag come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

This short, blunt word arrived in late Middle English, around the 1400s, and it almost certainly comes from a Scandinavian source closely related to Old Norse 'sokkva', meaning 'to sink', and to the Middle Low German and Middle Dutch verb 'sacken', meaning 'to settle or subside'. The shared idea across all of these relatives is something gradually giving way and dropping under its own weight, which is exactly the sense English kept. Because it was borrowed from the spoken, everyday vocabulary of North Sea trade and seafaring rather than from learned Latin, it stayed plain and phonetic, just three letters mirroring its sound. It is a cousin of the verb 'sink', and it has never picked up any silent letters or tricky vowel combinations, which is why its spelling is as straightforward as its meaning. The word is heard in everything from sagging shelves to sagging spirits, always carrying that original picture of a steady downward droop.

How the word is built

• sag (single root verb, no affixes)