An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Hag

by Friedrich Kluge

Hag, masculine, ‘hedge, fence, enclosure,’ from Middle High German hac, hages, masculine, neuter, ‘thorn bushes, copse, fence, enclosed wood, park,’ Old High German hag, masculine, once as ‘urbs’ (compare High German Hagen, and names of places ending in -hag); Dutch haag, feminine, ‘enclosure, hedge,’ Anglo-Saxon haga, masculine, English haw, ‘enclosure, small garden’; Old Icelandic hage, masculine, ‘pasture.’ Only in Gothic is a cognate word wanting; compare Hain, Here, Hagen, and Hecke. The derivation is uncertain; it is at all events not connected with hauen, root haw; the meaning of Modern High German behagen is unsuitable.