egg

Where does the word "egg" come from? It comes from Old Norse egg, and was adopted directly into English (1300s).

Egg’s story begins in Old Norse: egg meant “an egg.” The Norse form that gradually replaced the native English word ey. It reached English by 1300s as egg. Settled as the standard English word, displacing the earlier native term. Today, egg means the oval reproductive body laid by a bird, especially eaten as food.

1. Stage 1 · Old Norse · medieval egg "an egg", the Norse form that gradually replaced the native English word ey.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1300s egg "the oval reproductive body laid by birds", settled as the standard English word, displacing the earlier native term.