Etymology
The etymology of the word is obscure. The three main theories derive it either from a French, Norse or a Goidelic root. The word is first recorded in 1604 in the Elgin Records as hagmonay (delatit to haue been singand hagmonayis on Satirday) and again in 1692 in an entry of the Scotch Presbyterian Eloquence It is ordinary among some plebeians in the South of Scotland to go about from door to door upon New-years Eve, crying Hagmane.
Although Hogmanay is currently the predominant spelling and pronunciation, a number of variant spellings and pronunciations have been recorded, including:
- Hoghmanay
- Hagman(a)e
- Hagmonay
- Hagmonick
- Hanginay (Roxburghshire)
- Hangmanay
- Hogernoany (Shetland)
- Hogminay/Hogmenay/Hogmynae
- Hoguemennay
- Huggeranohni (Shetland)
- Hu(i)gmanay
with the first syllable variously being /hɔg/, /hog/, /hʌg/, /hʌug/ or /haŋ/.
Read more about this topic: Hogmanay
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)
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—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)