Etymograph

English

badger

Badger comes from Middle English bageard ‘marked by a badge’, and goes back to bagge.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bagge1as bage‘badge’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bageard1‘marked by a badge’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 2013badger1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English badger
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2013, Jocelyn Samara D., Rain (webcomic): “"Yeah? Cool. Just a warning: people are going to…”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500baggeWiktionary, English badgeras bage‘badge’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bageardWiktionary, English badger‘marked by a badge’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 2013badgerWiktionary, English badger. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2013, Jocelyn Samara D., Rain (webcomic): “"Yeah? Cool. Just a warning: people are going to…”

Linked words

through Middle English bagge ‘badge’

bag

Today it means

noun Any member of species of the genera Meles, Arctonyx, Mellivora or Taxidea, of mammals.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “badger”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Middle English bagge / badger

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