faggot

== English == === Alternative forms === fagot (in certain senses only) === Etymology === From Middle English fagot, from Old French fagot (“bundle of sticks”), of uncertain origin. Unlikely from Old Occitan fagot or Italian fagotto, as these appear later than the Old French term. Compare also Italian fangotto and Spanish fajo (“bundle, wad”). Perhaps from a diminutive of Vulgar Latin *facus, from Ancient Greek φάκελος (phákelos, “bundle of wood”). The senses relating to persons, though possibly originating as an extension of the sense "bundle of sticks", may have been reinforced by faygele, from Yiddish פֿייגעלע (feygele, “homosexual”, literally “little bird”), related to English fowl. === Pronunciation === (UK, US) IPA(key): /ˈfæ.ɡət/ Rhymes: -æɡət Hyphenation: fag‧got === Noun === faggot (plural faggots) (chiefly UK, Ireland, collective) A bundle of sticks or brushwood intended to be used for fuel tied together for carrying. (Some sources specify that a faggot is tied with two bands or withes, whereas a bavin is tied with just one.) (obsolete) Burdensome baggage. A bundle of pieces of iron or steel cut off into suitable lengths for welding. (rare, dated in US) A burning or smouldering piece of firewood. (chiefly UK, Ireland) A meatball made with offcuts and offal, especially pork. (See Wikipedia.) Synonym: (slang, obsolete) duck (highly derogatory, offensive, vulgar) A gay man, especially an effeminate one. Synonyms: see Thesaurus:male homosexual Coordinate terms: dyke, scissor sister 1914, Louis E. Jackson and C.R. Hellyer, Vocabulary of Criminal Slang (Portland, OR: Modern Printing Co., 1914) page 30: Drag, Example: “All the fagots (sissies) will be dressed in drag at the ball tonight. 2012, Margaret Cho, quoted (mimicking Karl Lagerfeld) in On Making Sense: Queer Race Narratives of Intelligibility Of course I'm a faggot, darling. I'm a flaming faggot, darling. I am fanning the flames of my faggotry. (loosely, highly derogatory, offensive, vulgar) A non-heterosexual man. (chiefly US, Canada, derogatory, offensive, vulgar) A man considered effeminate. (US, Canada, derogatory, offensive, vulgar) An annoying or inconsiderate person. (UK, Ireland, dated, colloquial, derogatory, now offensive) A shrewish woman. Synonyms: see Thesaurus:shrew (obsolete, possibly now offensive) A soldier numbered on the muster roll, but not really existing. (UK, Ireland, historical, possibly now offensive) A faggot voter. (UK, Ireland, dated, slang, now offensive) A lazy, weak, work-shy person. ==== Usage notes ==== The usage to refer to the British meatball delicacy (sense 5) is not widely known outside the United Kingdom and Ireland. Due to the prevalence of the usage as a homophobic slur (sense 6) in other regions, it is likely to be misconstrued as hate speech by those unaware of it. In contexts where the word can be interpreted as an allusion to homosexuals, this sense can be considered offensive even in the United Kingdom and Ireland, despite the homophobic slur not being in widespread use there. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Verb === faggot (third-person singular simple present faggots, present participle faggoting, simple past and past participle faggoted) Alternative form of fagot. === References === === Further reading === “faggot”, in OneLook Dictionary Search. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “faggot”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. faggot on Wikipedia.Wikipedia