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One possible source of haggis is Middle English haggen, meaning 'to chop', a northern variant of hack. From this view, its name would refer to its chopped-up contents. An alternative possibility is Old French agace, meaning 'magpie'. This is supported by a parallel semantic development of English pie, which originally meant 'magpie' but was apparently applied to a 'pastry case with a filling' from the notion that the collection of edible odds and ends in a pie resembles the collection of trinkets assembled by the acquisitive magpie. The miscellaneous assortment of sheep's entrails and other ingredients in a haggis would therefore represent the magpie's hoard.
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