dæg

Alternative forms

• deg, deag, dœg

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *dagaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ- (“to burn”). Cognate with Old High German tac (German Tag), Old Norse dagr (Swedish dag), Old Frisian dei, Old Saxon and Old Dutch dag (Dutch dag), Gothic 𐌳𐌰𐌲𐍃 (dags).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dæj/

Noun

dæġ m

1. (West Saxon) day, both (usually) as a period from sunrise to sunset and (scientifically) as a 24-hour (tīd) period from sunrise to sunrise.
   • 10th century, An Anglo-Saxon Manual of Astronomy:

     We hatað ænne dæg fram sunnan upgange oð æfen, ac swa þeah is on becum geteald to anum dæge fram þære sunnan upgange oð ꝥ heo eft becume þær heo ær upstah: on þam fæce synd getealde feower ⁊ twentig tida.

     We call one day from sun rise to evening, but yet in books there is reckoned to a day from the sun rise till she arrive again at the place whence she rose: in that space are reckoned twenty-four hours.

2. the runic character ᛞ (/d/)