steg Now dial.
(stɛg)
Also 5 stegg(e, 6 steyg, 9 stegg, stag, staig.
[a. ON. steggi, stegg-r masc., male bird (Norw. stegg, mod.Icel. steggur; in Icel. also tom-cat); prob. cogn. w. stag n.]
1. A gander; also, a clumsy or stupid person.
For later examples see Eng. Dial. Dict.
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 361/1 A Stegge, ancer. 1570 Richmond Wills (Surtees) 229 Inventorie..vij geyse and steygs. 1691 Ray N.C. Words 69 A Steg; a Gander. 1790 Ann Wheeler Westmorld. Dial. ii. 53 Will yee preia sell me a Goos... A fearful fine Stegg yea hev for sure. a 1823 in Mactaggart's Gallovid. Encycl. 440 Ye come, led by your chosen king, Some champion steg wha heads your string. 1873 Harland & Wilkinson Lanc. Leg. v. 201 He who will have a full flock Must have an old stagge (gander) and a young cock. |
2. Comb.: † steggander = sense 1; steg-month, = gander-month (gander n. 4).
| 1570 Levins Manip. 53/25 A steggander, anser. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss., Steg-month, the month or period of a woman's confinement. 1857 Dunglison Med. Lex. s.v. Parturient, The period from parturition to perfect recovery, which is usually a month. In the north of England this is called the steg-month. |