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faggot1

[fag-uh t] /ˈfæg ət/
noun, British.
1.

faggot2

[fag-uh t] /ˈfæg ət/
Usage alert
The terms faggot and fag are both used with disparaging intent and are perceived as highly insulting. However, faggot (but not fag) is sometimes used within the gay community as a positive term of self-reference.
noun, Slang.
1.
Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a male homosexual.
2.
Offensive. a contemptible or dislikable person.
Origin of faggot2
1910-1915
1910-15, Americanism; compare faggot a contemptuous term for a woman (from circa 1590), perhaps the same word as fagot
Related forms
faggoty, faggotty, adjective

fagot

[fag-uh t] /ˈfæg ət/
noun
1.
a bundle of sticks, twigs, or branches bound together and used as fuel, a fascine, a torch, etc.
2.
a bundle; bunch.
3.
a bundle of pieces of iron or steel to be welded, hammered, or rolled together at high temperature.
verb (used with object)
5.
to bind or make into a fagot.
6.
to ornament with fagoting.
Also, British, faggot.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French; of obscure origin
Related forms
fagoter, noun
unfagoted, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2016.
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British Dictionary definitions for faggot

faggot1

/ˈfæɡət/
noun
1.
a bundle of sticks or twigs, esp when bound together and used as fuel
2.
a bundle of iron bars, esp a box formed by four pieces of wrought iron and filled with scrap to be forged into wrought iron
3.
a ball of chopped meat, usually pork liver, bound with herbs and bread and eaten fried
4.
a bundle of anything
verb (transitive)
5.
to collect into a bundle or bundles
6.
(needlework) to do faggoting on (a garment, piece of cloth, etc)
Word Origin
C14: from Old French, perhaps from Greek phakelos bundle

faggot2

/ˈfæɡət/
noun
1.
(slang, mainly US & Canadian) a male homosexual Often shortened to fag
Derived Forms
faggoty, adjective
Word Origin
C20: special use of faggot1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word Origin and History for faggot
n.

late 13c., "bundle of twigs bound up," from Old French fagot "bundle of sticks" (13c.), of uncertain origin, probably from Italian faggotto, diminutive of Vulgar Latin *facus, from Latin fascis "bundle of wood" (see fasces).

Especially used for burning heretics (emblematic of this from 1550s), so that phrase fire and faggot was used to indicate "punishment of a heretic." Heretics who recanted were required to wear an embroidered figure of a faggot on their sleeve, as an emblem and reminder of what they deserved.

"male homosexual," 1914, American English slang (shortened form fag is from 1921), probably from earlier contemptuous term for "woman" (1590s), especially an old and unpleasant one, in reference to faggot (n.1) "bundle of sticks," as something awkward that has to be carried (cf. baggage "worthless woman," 1590s). It may also be reinforced by Yiddish faygele "homosexual," literally "little bird." It also may have roots in British public school slang fag "a junior who does certain duties for a senior" (1785), with suggestions of "catamite," from fag (v.). This also was used as a verb.

He [the prefect] used to fag me to blow the chapel organ for him. ["Boy's Own Paper," 1889]
Other obsolete senses of faggot were "man hired into military service simply to fill out the ranks at muster" (1700) and "vote manufactured for party purposes" (1817).

The oft-reprinted assertion that male homosexuals were called faggots because they were burned at the stake as punishment is an etymological urban legend. Burning was sometimes a punishment meted out to homosexuals in Christian Europe (on the suggestion of the Biblical fate of Sodom and Gomorrah), but in England, where parliament had made homosexuality a capital offense in 1533, hanging was the method prescribed. Any use of faggot in connection with public executions had long become an English historical obscurity by the time the word began to be used for "male homosexual" in 20th century American slang, whereas the contemptuous slang word for "woman" (and the other possible sources or influences listed here) was in active use. It was used in this sense in early 20c. by D.H. Lawrence and James Joyce, among others.

fagot

n.

early spelling of faggot (n.1).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang definitions & phrases for faggot

faggot

noun

A male homosexual: Hot faggot queens bump up against chilly Jewish matrons/ an amazing job of controlling the faggots

[1914+; origin unknown; perhaps fr fag; perhaps fr faggot, ''woman,'' found by 1591]

The Dictionary of American Slang, Fourth Edition by Barbara Ann Kipfer, PhD. and Robert L. Chapman, Ph.D.
Copyright (C) 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers.
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11
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