dial. Obs. Also 3 irreg. wig. [OE. wicg = OS. wigg, ON. vigg:—OTeut. *wegjom, f. weg- to carry (see WAY sb., WEIGH, etc.).] In OE. (poetical) a steed; later, a beast of burden; in quot. 1553, a mare.
For the specialization of meaning, cf. F. jument mare, from L. jumentum beast of burden.
Beowulf, 234. Ʒewat him þa to waroðe wicge ridan þeʓn Hroðgares.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 89. [He] bed hem bringen a wig one to riden, noðer stede, ne palefrei, ne fair mule … he sende after þe alre unwurþeste wig one to riden, and þat is asse.
1553. Respublica, IV. iii. 1023. That tyme chad a widge, and hir vole.
