Added 9 October 2026

egg

/ɛɡ/ noun

In Latin: ōvum Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about egg at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

An approximately spherical or ellipsoidal body produced by birds, insects, reptiles, and other animals, often housing an embryo within a membrane or shell during its development. The (usually) non-developing, edible egg (sense 1.1) of a domestic fowl such as a duck, goose, or, especially, chicken; the contents of such an egg or eggs used as food.
We made a big omelette with three eggs for breakfast.
An approximately spherical or ellipsoidal body produced by birds, insects, reptiles, and other animals, often housing an embryo within a membrane or shell during its development. The (usually) non-developing, edible egg (sense 1.1) of a domestic fowl such as a duck, goose, or, especially, chicken; the contents of such an egg or eggs used as food.
We made a big omelette with three eggs for breakfast.
The (usually) non-developing, edible egg (sense 1.1) of a domestic fowl such as a duck, goose, or, especially, chicken; the contents of such an egg or eggs used as food.
We made a big omelette with three eggs for breakfast.

To throw (especially rotten) eggs (noun sense 1.1.1) at (someone or something).
The angry demonstrators egged the riot police.
To throw (especially rotten) eggs (noun sense 1.1.1) at (someone or something).
The angry demonstrators egged the riot police.
To inadvertently or intentionally distort (the circular cross-section of something, such as tube) to an elliptical or oval shape.
After I cut the tubing, I found that I had slightly egged it in the vise.

The noun is derived from Middle English eg, egg, egge (“egg of a domestic or wild fowl; egg of a snake”) [and other forms] (originally Northern England and Northeast Midlands), from Old Norse egg (“egg”), from Proto-Germanic *ajją (“egg”) (by Holtzmann’s law), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm (“egg”), probably from *h₂éwis (“bird”), from *h₂ew- (“to consume”). Doublet of huevo, oeuf, and ovum.