# beag
## English
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Old English bēag (“circular jewelry worn on the body: ring, armlet, crown, collar”), from Proto-West Germanic *baug, from Proto-Germanic *baugaz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewgʰ- (“to bend”). Cognate with dialectal German Baug (“ring, collar”), Icelandic baugur (“ring, circle”). Doublet of bee (“ring”). Related to bagel.

### Noun

beag (plural beags)
* (historical) A ring.
** 1878, The Numismatic chronicle and journal of the Numismatic Society, Great Britain: Royal Numismatic Society:It was a mark of nobility among the German races — by some considered the origin of our coronets — and had even about it a quasi-religious character in memory of the "holy beag" (holy ring), the oath upon which was tantamount to the oath upon Thorr's hammer.
** 1970, William A. Chaney, The cult of kingship in Anglo-Saxon England:[...] and the description of that monarch in his anonymous Vita as coronatus lauro probably indicates a beag which was lighter than the formal diadema.

### Anagrams

* Bega, EGBA, Egba, Gabe, bega

## Irish
### Etymology

From Old Irish bec (“small, little”) (compare Manx beg, Scottish Gaelic beag), from Proto-Celtic *biggos (“small”) (compare Breton bihan and Welsh bach, bychan).

### Pronunciation

* (Munster, Connacht) IPA: /bʲɞɡ/
* (Ulster) IPA: /bʲɨ̞ɡ/

### Adjective

beag (genitive singular masculine big, genitive singular feminine bige, plural beaga, comparative lú)
* small, little
* junior, lesser, minor
* few (with singular or plural noun)
    Is beag áit is deise.There are few places that are nicer.
    le blianta beaga anuas ― for the past few years

#### Declension

$^1$ When the preceding noun is lenited and governed by the definite article. $^2$ When the preceding noun ends in a slender consonant.

#### Derived terms

* Áise Bheag f (“Asia Minor”)
* An Bhreatain Bheag f (“Wales”)
* anairt bheag f (“sailcloth, canvas”)
* baile beag m (“village, small town”)
* beag- (“small; -less; un-, in-”)
* beagadán m (“diminutive person; little one”)
* beagaigh (“lessen, diminish”, verb)
* beagán m (“a little, a bit, a few”)
* beagnach (“almost, nearly”, adverb)
* bilbí beag m (“lesser bilby”)
* caolán beag m (“ileum”)
* cóta beag m (“petticoat”)
* falcóg bheag f (“little auk”)
* méar bheag f (“little finger, pinkie”)
* pláta beag m (“side plate”)
* rón beag m (“common seal, harbor seal”)
* rud beag (“a little, a bit, somewhat”, adverb)
* samhradh beag (“Indian summer, warm autumn”)
* snáthaid bheag f (“fine needle; hour hand”)
* tae beag m (“high tea, afternoon tea”)
* tiomóid bheag f (“smaller catstail”)
* ulchabhán beag m (“little owl”)

### Noun

beag m (genitive singular big, nominative plural beaganna)
* little; small amount
* (with copula) few

#### Declension

bare forms
case
singular
plural
nominative
beag
beaganna
vocative
a bhig
a bheaganna
genitive
big
beaganna
dative
beag
beaganna
forms with the definite article
case
singular
plural
nominative
an beag
na beaganna
genitive
an bhig
na mbeaganna
dative
leis an mbeag don bheag
leis na beaganna :

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

### References

* ↑ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “bec”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
* ↑ Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry [Phonetics of an Irish Dialect of Kerry] (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, § 107, page 58
* ↑ Finck, F. N. (1899) Die araner mundart [The Aran Dialect] (in German), volume II, Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 44
* ↑ Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, § 106, page 42

### Further reading

* Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “beag”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
* de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “beag”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
* “beag”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2025

## Old English
### Alternative forms

* bēah

### Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *baug, from Proto-Germanic *baugaz, derived from *beuganą (“to bend”). Cognate with Old Frisian bāg, Old Saxon bōg, Old High German boug, and Old Norse baugr.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /bæ͜ɑːɡ/, [bæ͜ɑːɣ]

### Noun

bēag m
* circular object worn on the body, especially one made of gold or silver: ring, armlet, crown, collar, torque
** c. 897, King Alfred's translation of Pope Gregory's Pastoral Care
    Sē þe ūs ġehǣlþ fram þām stiċe ūrra synna, hē ġeþafode þæt him man sette þyrnenne bēag on þæt hēafod.The person who heals us from the stabs of our sins allowed a crown of thorns to be placed on his head.
** Late 10th century, Ælfric, the Old English Hexateuch, Genesis 38:18
    Þā cwæþ Iūdas, "Hwæt wilt þū tō underwedde niman?" Þā cwæþ hēo, "Þīnne hring and þīnne bēag and þīnne stæf þe þū on handa hæfst."Judah asked, "What do you want to take as a pledge?" She said, "Your ring and your armlet and your staff that you have in your hand."

#### Usage notes

* Since Proto-Germanic times, different kinds of bēag were often disambiguated with compounds: earmbēag (“armlet”), hēafodbēag (“crown”), swēorbēag (“collar”). *Fingerbēag is not attested and may not have existed, perhaps because hring was already a specific word for "ring."
* During the 10th century, cynehelm begins to become the normal word for "crown."

#### Declension

Strong a-stem:

#### Derived terms

* bēagġiefa
* bēagian
* randbēag
* þyrnen bēag
* wuldorbēag

#### Related terms

* bīeġan
* bīeġels
* bōg
* boga
* būgan
* byġe
* byht
* ġebīeġednes

#### Descendants

* Middle English: beigh, beiȝ, bē, biȝ, by
** English: bee
* → English: beag (learned)

## Scottish Gaelic
### Etymology

From Old Irish bec (“small, little”) (compare Manx beg, Irish beag), from Proto-Celtic *biggos (“small”) (compare Breton bic’han and Welsh bach, bychan).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /b̥ek/, [b̥e̠k]
* (Lewis) IPA: /b̥ɤk/

### Adjective

beag (genitive singular masculine big, genitive singular feminine bige, nominative plural beaga, comparative bige or lugha)
* small, little, short, diminutive
    duine beag ― a small man
    ùine bheag ― a short time
* disagreeable
    Is beag orm thu. ― I hate you. (literally, “You are disagreeable to me.”)
* light, trifling, insignificant
    Is beag seo. ― This is a trifling thing.
* young
    na sionnaich bheaga ― the young foxes
* sordid, miserly, niggardly
    Is beag sin de Ghàidhlig. ― That is a poor sort of Gaelic.
    Tha e fìor bheag 'n a nàdar. ― He has a very niggardly disposition.

#### Synonyms

* bìodach
* mean
* meanbh
* mion

#### Derived terms

* baile beag m (“village, small town”)
* beag air bheag (“bit by bit”, adverb)
* beag bìodach (“tiny”, adjective)
* beag-sgèile (“small-scale”, adjective)
* beagan m (“a little, a few”)
* beith bheag f (“dwarf birch”)
* cailleach bheag a' chìrein f (“crested tit”)
* cailleach bheag an earbaill f (“long-tailed tit”)
* comhachag-bheag f (“little owl”)
* fèileadh beag m (“filibeg, kilt”)
* guilbneach-beag m (“whimbrel”)
* is fheàrr an teine beag a gharas na an teine mòr a loisgeas (“less is more”, literally “better is the small fire that warms than the great fire that burns”)
* neas bheag f (“weasel”)
* taigh beag m (“toilet, water closet”)

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Scottish Gaelic. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

### References

* ↑ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “bec”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
* ↑ Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1937) The dialect of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap
* ↑ Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1940) A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. I: The dialects of the Outer Hebrides, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap, page 119

### Further reading

* Edward Dwelly (1911) “beag”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎, 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
* MacLennan, Malcolm (1925) A Pronouncing and Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language, Edinburgh: J. Grant, →OCLC