Mag

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /mæɡ/

Definitions

1. A shorthand term for a periodical publication often focused on specialized topics or interests; a detachable container in firearms used to hold ammunition; an informal abbreviation referring to a magazine in various contexts
2. An abbreviation commonly used to signify a printed or digital publication featuring articles and stories; a component of a gun designed to store and feed bullets; a casual term used to describe a magazine for reading or collecting
3. An informal label for a publication released regularly with articles, pictures, and stories; a mechanical device in guns that stores and feeds cartridges; a short form used to indicate magazines in different media or weaponry settings

Etymology: The noun "mag," meaning a regular printed publication, is a clipped form of "magazine," which itself came into English from French and Arabic roots. Its own short history is a little different from the longer word's. Its most striking feature is that it is a nickname: "mag" is a familiar shortening of the personal name Margaret, the same kind of diminutive that gives "Maggie" and "Meg." The link between a woman's name and a periodical is unexpected, but the clipping pattern is ordinary. English speakers have long shortened words of more than one or two syllables in casual speech, and once a short form took hold, it could stand on its own as a separate word with its own meaning. Here the familiar form of a name entered the language as a slang term for a printed magazine, rather than as the proper noun it came from.

Synonyms: magazine, periodical, journal, publication, digest