Now dial. Also 5 stegg(e, 6 steyg, 9 stegg, stag, staig. [a. ON. steggi, stegg-r masc., male bird (Norw. stegg, mod. Icel. steggur; in Icel. also tom-cat); prob. cogn. w. STAG sb.]
1. A gander; also, a clumsy or stupid person.
For later examples see Eng. Dial. Dict.
1483. Cath. Angl., 361/1. A Stegge, ancer.
1570. Richmond Wills (Surtees), 229. Inventorie … vij geyse and steygs.
1691. Ray, N. C. Words, 69. A Steg; a Gander.
1790. Ann Wheeler, Westmorld. Dial., ii. 53. Will yee preia sell me a Goos…. A fearful fine Stegg yea hev for sure.
a. 1823. in Mactaggart’s Gallovid. Encycl., 440. Ye come, led by your chosen king, Some champion steg wha heads your string.
1873. Harland & Wilkinson, Lanc. Leg., v. 201. He who will have a full flock Must have an old stagge (gander) and a young cock.
2. Comb.: † steggander = sense 1; steg-month, = gander-month (GANDER sb. 4).
1570. Levins, Manip., 53/25. A steggander, anser.
1828. Carr, Craven Gloss., Steg-month, the month or period of a woman’s confinement.
1857. Dunglison, Med. Lex., s.v. Parturient, The period from parturition to perfect recovery, which is usually a month. In the north of England this is called the steg-month.
