HAG  . (I) (Probably a shortened

form of the O . Eng. hcegtesse, hegtes, cognate with Ger . Hexe, witch, Dutch hecse), a word common during the 16th and 17th centuries for a female demon or evil spirit, and so particularly applied to such supernatural beings as the harpies and fairies of classical mythology, and also to witches . In modern usage the word is generally used of a hideous old woman whose repulsive exterior is accompanied by malice or wickedness . The name is also used of an eel-like parasitic fish, Myxine glutinosa, allied to the lamprey . (2) A word common in Scottish and northern English dialects for an enclosed piece of wood, a copse . This is the same word as " hedge " (see HEDGES) and " haw." " Hag " also means " to cut," and is used in Scotland of an extent of woodland marked out for felling, and of a quantity of felled wood .