ラテン語のfascis「束」、bundle「薪の束」が語源で、語源的にはbasketと同じ。 ゲイの俗語で使われ、薪を運ぶ猫背の老婆と言われる。
He [the prefect] used to fag me to blow the chapel organ for him. ["Boy's Own Paper," 1889]Other obsolete British senses of faggot were "man hired into military service merely to fill out the ranks at muster" (1700) and "vote manufactured for party purposes" (1817).