= Cyril, Photius beta14, Hesychius beta25, [Zonaras] 375.9. The headword is unattested elsewhere. The gloss, and one assumes the headword, are neuter nominative/accusative singular. The word may derive from a root that shows up in term for 'god' in Old Persian (baga-; cf. Russian bog), seen perhaps in the Persian proper name Bagaios (beta 12, pi 116, cf. a man of the same name in the family of Pharnaces, Persian satrap of the Hellespont, Plutarch, Alcibiades 39, although some MSS read Magaios rather than Bagaios). According to Hesychius beta22, Βαγαῖος was also the Phrygian name for Zeus, and the text of this entry also includes the glosses 'great, mighty, swift', although Latte brackets these glosses as belonging properly to an entry on βαλαιόν (beta132). Another possibility for our headword is that it is an adjectival derivative from βάγος which Hesychius epsilon26 defines as a Lakonian term for king and general, but both Latte and Chantraine believe this is a mistake on the lexicographer's part (see also Chantraine's skeptical comments on the possible relation between this term and the Iranian baga-). Finally, perhaps the likeliest possibility is that the entry is corrupt. Latte suggests that the headword is a misspelling (influenced by Late Greek pronunciation?) of βαϊόν ('measuring stick') and that the gloss originally was μέγα βάκτρον ('big staff').