"G" Word Origins

gab

Middle English

From Old Norse gabb, "jest, mockery," inherited via Middle English gab.

gabardine

Origin

Recorded since 1904, altering the earlier gaberdine (“long, coarse outer garment”) (since 1520), from Spanish gabardina (perhaps influenced by gabán (“overcoat”) and tabardina (“coarse coat”)), from Middle French galverdine, itself probably from (Old or Middle) High German wallevart (“pilgrimage”), in the sense of “pilgrim's cloak” (from wallen (“to ambulate”) + vart (“journey”)).

gabble

Origin

From gab + -le. Cognate with Saterland Frisian gabbelje (“to mock”), Dutch gabbelen (“to chatter, babble”), German Low German gabbeln (“to mock”).

gabbler

Origin

From gabble + -er.

Gabby

Origin

From gab + -y.

Gabe

Origin

A shortened, informal form of Gabriel.

gabi

Tagalog

From Tagalog gabi, ultimately from Proto-Philippine roots.

gable

Old French

From Old French gable, from Old Norse gafl.

Gabor

Origin

Borrowed from the Hungarian given name Gábor.

Gabriel

Latin

From Latin Gabriel, from Greek Gabrīḗl, from Hebrew Gavriel, combining géver ("strong man") and ʾēl ("God").

Gabriela

Latin

A feminine form of Gabriel, from Hebrew via Latin.

Gabriele

Italian

Borrowed from Italian Gabriele.

Gabriella

Italian

From the Italian feminine form of Gabriel, ultimately from Hebrew.

Gabrielle

French

Borrowed from French Gabrielle, the feminine form of Gabriel.

Gaby

Origin

A shortened form of Gabrielle.

gad

Origin

The interjection is a euphemistic alteration of "God," used to avoid swearing directly.

Gaddafi

Arabic

From Libyan Arabic, ultimately from an occupational Arabic term meaning "hurler" or "one who flings."

gaddis

Origin

Variant of Geddes.

gadfly

Origin

From gad (“sharp point, spike; (dialectal) sharp-pointed rod for driving cattle, horses, etc., goad”) + fly, in the sense of a fly which irritates cattle, etc., by biting them, similar to the prodding of a goad. Gad is derived from Middle English gad, gadde (“metal spike with a sharp point; stick with a sharp point for driving animals, goad; metal bar or rod, ingot; (by extension) lump of material; metal rod for measuring land; (by extension) unit of linear measure equal to about 10 to 16 feet”), borrowed from Old Norse gaddr (“spike; goad”), from Proto-Germanic *gazdaz (“spike; goad”), further etymology uncertain. Displaced native Old English bēaw. Sense 2.1.1 (“person who upsets the status quo”) may allude to the Apology by the Greek philosopher Plato (428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 B.C.E.), where he describes Socrates (c. 470 – 399 B.C.E.) acting as a goad to the Athenian political scene like a gadfly (Ancient Greek μῠ́ωψ (mŭ́ōps)) arousing a sluggish horse.

gadget

French · 1886

Origin unclear, first recorded in print in 1886; possibly linked to a French word for a small tool, or to the surname of a French industrialist connected with promotional trinkets for the Statue of Liberty project.

gadgie

Origin

Borrowed from Romani gaʒe, plural of gaʒo (“a non-Roma”).

gadling

Origin

From Middle English gadelyng (“companion in arms; man, fellow; a person of low birth; rascal, scoundrel; bastard; base, lowborn”), gadeling (“vagabond”), from Old English geaduling, gædeling (“kinsman, fellow, companion in arms, comrade”), from Proto-West Germanic *gaduling, from Proto-Germanic *gadulingaz, *gadilingaz (“relative, kinsman”), equivalent to gad + -ling. Related to Old English ġegada (“comrade, companion”).

gadsbud

Origin

Uncertain, either a contraction of God’s blood, or of God’s body

gadzooks

Origin

Minced form of God's hooks, a reference to the nails of the crucifixion of Christ.

Gael

Old Irish

From Irish Gael, tracing back through Old Irish and Old Welsh to a Celtic root meaning "savage" or "woodsman."

Gaelic

Origin

From Gael + the adjective-forming suffix -ic.

Gaeta

Italian

Borrowed from Italian Gaeta.

gaff

Old French

From Old French gaffe, from Old Occitan gaf ("hook").

gaffe

French

From French gaffe, a boat hook, which came to be used figuratively for a clumsy blunder.

gaffer

Origin

From gaff (an old word for "hook") + -er; the film-lighting sense grew from technicians who once adjusted flaps ("gaffs") on lighting tents.

gaffle

Origin

From Middle English gaffolle, a borrowing from Middle Dutch gaffel, gafel (“fork”), ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *gabulu (“fork”), related to Old English gafol, ġeafel (“fork”).

Gaffney

Irish

An anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Gamhna, from gamhain ("calf").

gag

Middle English · 1860

The noun appears in Early Modern English; the verb in Middle English. Possibly imitative in origin. The "joke" sense developed later, from the 1860s.

gaga

French

Borrowed from French gaga.

Gagarin

Russian

A transliteration of the Russian surname Гагарин (Gagárin).

gage

Old French

From Old French gage, ultimately from a Frankish word related to "pledge"; a doublet of "wage."

gagging

Origin

From gag + -ing.

gaggle

Middle English

From Middle English gagelen, "to cackle like a goose."

gagman

Origin

From gag + -man.

Gagnon

French

Borrowed from French Gagnon.

Gaia

Ancient Greek · 1979

From the Ancient Greek Gaia, the personified Earth. Scientist James Lovelock borrowed the name in 1979 for his theory that the planet behaves like a single self-regulating organism.

gaiety

Middle French

From Middle French gaieté, built on gai ("gay, merry") — the same root as the English word "gay."

gaijin

Origin

Borrowed from Japanese 外人 (gaijin, “foreigner”), from Middle Chinese 外人 (ngwajᴴ nyin). Compare Mandarin 外人 (wàirén), from Old Chinese 外人 (*ŋʷaːds njin, “foreigner, outsider” < “non-relative”), from 外 (wài, “outside, outer”) + 人 (rén, “person”).

gaily

Origin

From gay + the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

gain

Old French

From Middle English gain ("profit, advantage"), from Old Norse gagn ("benefit, use"), later reinforced by an Old French word meaning "profit" or "cultivation."

gained

French

From Old French gaaignier, meaning to earn or win, of Germanic origin.

gainful

Origin

From gain (“against, contrary”) + -ful.

gainsay

Origin

From Middle English gainsayen, ȝeinseggen (“to say against, say in opposition to”), equivalent to gain- + say. Compare Old Danish gensige (“to speak against; gainsay”), Swedish gensaga (“a speaking against; protest”).