Shagge

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. A coarse, untidy mass of long hair or a thick, rough nap on fabric or a surface ; a dark seabird related to the cormorant that nests on rocky coasts
2. Rough, shaggy hair or a thick, unkempt pile of fibres on a surface ; a glossy dark seabird of the cormorant family found along cliffs and shores
3. Long, matted strands of hair or a deep, uneven nap on cloth ; a sea bird in the cormorant family, with dark plumage, that frequents rocky coastlines

Etymology: Before it described untidy hair, the root of this word named the hair itself. Its Old English ancestor, "sceacga," meant a shock of hair or a tangled forelock, and it is related to Old Norse "skegg," meaning beard. The verb grew from that noun. To shag something is to make it rough and disordered, so a head of hair that has been left unbrushed and matted is shagged. The same idea of long, rough, tangled fibres later gave English the "shag" carpet.