city in Netherlands, from Dutch Den Haag, short for 's Gravenhage, literally "the count's hedge" (i.e. the hedge-enclosed hunting grounds of the counts of Holland); see haw (n.). In French, it is La Haye.
Entries linking to hague
haw n.
"enclosure," Old English haga "enclosure, fortified enclosure; hedge," from Proto-Germanic *hag- (source also of Old Norse hagi, Old Saxon hago, German Hag "hedge;" Middle Dutch hage, Dutch haag, as in the city name The Hague), from PIE root *kagh- "to catch seize; wickerwork fence" (see hedge (n.), and compare hag). Meaning "fruit of the hawthorn bush" (Old English) is perhaps short for *hægberie.