Etymology Dictionary

KEDGE (1),  to warp a ship.  (Scand.)   'Kedge, to set up the foresail, and to let a ship drive with the tide, lifting up and letting fall the kedge-anchor, as often as occasion serves;' Kersey's Dict. ed. 1714.   And see the longer description in Todd's Johnson.—Swed. dial. keka, to tug at anything tough, to work continually at anything, to drag oneself slowly forward, go softly, drive softly; Rietz.   'Hästen keka fot óm fot i oföre,' the horse goes slowly, one foot before another, in the bad road; id.   This well describes the tedious process of kedging, or making headway when the wind is contrary to the tide.   Der. kedg-er, kedge-anchor.   'Kedge-anchors, or Kedgers, small anchors used in calm weather, and in a slow stream;' Kersey.   So called because used to assist in kedging; see Todd's Johnson.   ➩ Mr. Wedgwood identifies kedge-anchor with keg-anchor, which he supposes to be named from the keg or 'cask which is fastened to the anchor to shew where it lies.'   See Keg.   This seems to me to contradict the evidence, which points to the verb as being the older word; the form kedg-er is almost enough to prove this.   But the prov. E. kedge-belly, a glutton, and kedge, to stuff oneself in eating, are undoubtedly derived from the notion of a round keg; cf. Norweg. kaggje, a keg, a round thick person (Aasen).

KEDGE (2), KIDGE,  cheerful, lively.  (Scand.)   'Kedge, brisk, lively;' Ray's Gloss., ed. 1691; see reprint, ed. Skeat (Eng. Dial. Soc.), pref. p. xviii.   Also called kidge (Forby).   An East Anglian word.   'Kygge, or ioly, kydge, kyde, jocundus, hilaris, vernosus;' Prompt. Parv.—Icel. kykr, corrupter form of kvikr, quick, lively. + G. keck, brisk, lively; M. H. G. quec, quick.   Merely another form of Quick, q.v.