The Real Meaning of the Word “Faggot”

And no, it originally wasn’t an insult

Winter: The Faggot Gatherers by Jean-François Millet, 1875. Public Domain. Source: https://www.wikiart.org/en/jean-francois-millet/winter-the-faggot-gatherers-1875

In the United Kingdom, a faggot is a type of meatball made from pork and offal, common in Wales and the English Midlands. Also, a conversation between two English friends might sound like this, “Fancy a fag?,” “Oh yes! I’m desperate for a fag!”. Here, “fag” means “cigarette”.

Also, “to bum a fag” is a rather old-fashioned way to say “to smoke a cigarette”. Or perhaps in contemporary American — “to smoke a joint”. One could imagine Americans getting shocked when told that naughty English teenagers are always sneaking off to “bum a fag”!

Where does “fag” come from?

First, “fag” is an abbreviation for “faggot”. And the English word “faggot” was borrowed centuries ago from the French fagot meaning “a bundle of sticks” For a very long time, “bundle of sticks” was the only meaning of “faggot”.

Uniform of a Roman lictor. Public Domain. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roman_Lictor_Clothes.png?uselang=it

And not only that, but the French fagot itself evolved centuries ago ultimately from Latin fascis meaning what else? A bundle of sticks. Interestingly, a fascis (the plural is fasces) bundled together with an axe was carried by Roman lictors as a…