stag
Of a man, attending a formal social function without a dateOf a man, attending a formal social function without a date.
Recorded US: Sylvanmoon, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Meaning
1 senses(not comparable)Of a man, attending a formal social function without a date.
My brother went stag to prom because he couldn't find a date.
Origin
From Middle English stagge, steg, from Old English stagga, stacga (“a stag”) and possiblyFrom Middle English stagge, steg, from Old English stagga, stacga (“a stag”) and possibly Old Norse steggi, steggr (“a male animal”), both from Proto-Germanic *staggijô, *staggijaz (“male, male deer, porcupine”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *stegʰ-, *stengʰ- (“to sting; rod, blade; sharp, stiff”). Doublet of steg (“gander”). Cognate with Icelandic steggi, steggur (“tomcat, male fox”). Related to staggard, staggon.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.