Meaning and Origin
What does the name Tag mean? Keep reading to find the user submitted meanings, dictionary definitions, and more.
Origin and Meaning of Tag
User Submitted Origins
English
46%
Irish
31%
American
23%
International Interest
Also see international interest
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
noun Tag
Senses
- Any slight appendage, as to an article of dress; something slight hanging loosely; specifically, a direction card, or label.
- A metallic binding, tube, or point, at the end of a string, or lace, to stiffen it.
- The end, or catchword, of an actor's speech; cue.
- Something mean and paltry; the rabble.(Obs)
- A sheep of the first year.(Prov. Eng)
Etymology: Probably akin to tack a small nail; cf. Sw. tagg a prickle, point, tooth
verb Tag
Senses
- To fit with, or as with, a tag or tags."He learned to make long- tagged thread laces." [Macaulay.]"His courteous host . . . Tags every sentence with some fawning word." [Dryden.]
- To join; to fasten; to attach.
- To follow closely after; esp., to follow and touch in the game of tag. See Tag, a play.
verb Tag
To follow closely, as it were an appendage; -- often with after; as, to tag after a person.
noun Tag
A child's play in which one runs after and touches another, and then runs away to avoid being touched.
Etymology: From Tag (v.); cf. Tag, an end
Other Dictionary Sources
- (sports) the act of touching a player in a game (which changes their status in the game)
- A game in which one child chases the others; the one who is caught becomes the next chaser
- A small piece of cloth or paper
- A label written or printed on paper, cardboard, or plastic that is attached to something to indicate its owner, nature, price, etc.
- A label associated with something for the purpose of identification ("semantic tags were attached in order to identify different meanings of the word")
- Provide with a name or nickname
- Attach a tag or label to
- Touch a player while he is holding the ball
- Supply (blank verse or prose) with rhymes
- Go after with the intent to catch
Wiktionary
From Middle English tagge (“small piece hanging from a garment”), probably of North Germanic origin. Compare Norwegian tagg (“point; prong; barb; tag”), Swedish tagg (“thorn; prickle; tine”), Icelandic tág (“a willow-twig”). Compare also tack.
- A small label.
- A game played by two or more children in which one child (known as "it") attempts to catch one of the others, who then becomes "it".
- A skin tag, an excrescence of skin.
- A type of cardboard.
- Graffiti in the form of a stylized signature particular to the artist.
- A dangling lock of sheep's wool, matted with dung; a dung tag.
- An attribution in narrated dialogue (eg, "he said").
- (chiefly US) a vehicle number plate; a medal bearing identification data (animals, soldiers).
- (baseball) An instance of touching the baserunner with the ball or the ball in a gloved hand.
- The was applied at second for the final out.
- (computing) A piece of markup representing an element in a markup language.
- The provides a title for the Web page.
- The conveys sarcasm in Internet slang.
- (computing) A keyword, term, or phrase associated with or assigned to data, media, and/or information enabling keyword-based classification; often used to categorize content.
- I want to add genre and artist to the files in my music collection.
- Any slight appendage, as to an article of dress; something slight hanging loosely.
- A metallic binding, tube, or point, at the end of a string, or lace, to stiffen it.
- The end, or catchword, of an actor's speech; cue.
- Something mean and paltry; the rabble.
- A sheep in its first year.
- (biochemistry) Any short peptide sequence artificially attached to proteins mostly in order to help purify, solubilize or visualize these proteins.
- (slang) A person's name.
- What's your ?
Borrowing from Aramaic תגא (“crown”).
- A decoration drawn over some Hebrew letters in Jewish scrolls.
tag was also found in the following language(s): Crimean Gothic, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Lojban, Meriam, Middle High German, Old High German, and Swedish