禊ぐ

Etymology

*⟨mi₁ so₂so₂ɡu⟩ → *⟨mi₁so₂ɡu⟩ → */misəɡu/ → /misoɡu/

From Old Japanese, continuative form misogi first attested in the Kojiki (712 CE).

Derivation likely unknown, no known phonetic spellings attested in ancient literature.

• mi is likely 水 (/mi₁/, “water”) instead of 身 (/mi₂/, “body”). See also Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai for more detail on ancient spellings.
• sosogu (probably rendered as */səsəɡu/ in Old Japanese) is definitely 注ぐ (sosogu, “to pour over”), compare 濯ぐ (susugu, “to rinse”).

Verb

禊ぐ (intransitive, yodan conjugation, hiragana みそぐ, rōmaji misogu)

1. (Shinto, archaic) to perform misogi (purification ritual, ablution)
   • c. 759, Man'yōshū (book 3, poem 420), text here

     [...]　天 (あまの)川原 (かはら)尓 (に)出 (いで)立 (たち)而 (て)潔身 (みそぎ)而 (て)麻 (ま)之 (し)乎 (を)高山 (たかやま)乃 (の)石 (いは)穂 (ほ)乃 (の)上 (うへ)尓 (に)伊 (い)座 (ませ)都 (つ)類 (る)香 (か)物 (も) [Man'yōgana]

     [...]　天 (あま)の川原 (かはら)に出 (い)で立 (た)ちてみそぎてましを高山 (たかやま)の巌 (いはほ)の上 (うへ)にいませつるかも [Modern spelling]

     ...ama no kawara ni ide-tachite misogite mashi o takayama no iwao no ue ni imasetsuru ka mo

     ...to purify myself and pray on the Heavenly River's shore[, ah, that] I must leave him lying among the rocks of that lofty hill!^[1]

References