"G" Word Origins

gilgul

Origin

Borrowed from Hebrew גלגול.

gilham

Origin

From a medieval variant of the given name William.

gill

Middle English

From a Middle English word for the fish organ, related to Old Norse and Scandinavian words for gills or lips — not connected to the given name Gill, which is a short form of Julian or Gillian.

gillam

Origin

From a medieval variant of the given name William.

gillard

Origin

From a Middle English diminutive of the male given name Giles.

gillatt

Origin

From a medieval diminutive of the given name Gill.

Gillespie

Scottish Gaelic

From Scottish Gaelic Gille Easbaig, meaning "servant of the bishop."

gillespite

Origin

? + -ite

gillet

Origin

Variant of Gillett.

gillett

Origin

From Gill + -et. From a medieval diminutive of the given name Gill.

Gillette

Origin

Alternative form of Gillett. * Razor brand: invented by American businessman King C. Gillette.

gillham

Origin

From a medieval variant of the given name William.

Gilliam

Origin

From a medieval variant of the given name William.

Gillian

Origin

Derived from the given name Gillian, a medieval variant of Julian/Juliana that became a generic term for a woman in old slang, much like "Jack" became generic for a man.

gilliatt

Origin

From a medieval diminutive of the given name Gill.

gillott

Origin

From a medieval diminutive of the given name Gill.

gillum

Origin

From a medieval variant of the given name William.

gilly

French

Borrowed from French Gilly.

gillyflower

Origin

By folk etymology (with influence from flower) from French girofle, gilofre, from Late Latin caryophyllum, from Ancient Greek καρυόφυλλον (karuóphullon, “dried flower buds of the clove tree”).

Gilmore

Scottish Gaelic

From Scottish Gaelic elements meaning roughly "servant of (the Virgin) Mary".

gilmour

Origin

Variant of Gilmore, from Scottish Gaelic gille (“servant lad”) + Moire (“Mary mother of Jesus”).

Gilroy

Irish

From an Irish phrase meaning "servant of the red-haired lad".

gilt

Origin

The past form of the old verb "to gild" (cover with gold) — so something "gilt" is literally something that has been gilded.

gim

Korean

From the Korean word 김 (gim).

Gimbert

French

Borrowed from French Gimbert.

gimlet

Origin

From Middle English gimlet etc., from Old French guinbelet, guimbelet, guibelet, probably a diminutive of the Anglo-Norman wimble, a variation of guimble (“drill”), from the Middle Low German wiemel; continued in Modern French as gibelet. Cocktail either named after the tool, in reference to its penetrating effects, or British Navy surgeon Thomas Gimlette (1857–1943).

gimme

Origin

A spelled-out version of how "give me" is often pronounced in fast, informal speech.

gimmick

Origin · 1900

Origin unclear — possibly linked to "magic" or to "gimme", first recorded in early-20th-century American carnival and stage-magic slang.

gimp

French · 1600

Recorded in English since the 1600s, likely from Dutch or French words for a type of trim or braid; the "limp" sense developed separately and is much later.

gimped

Origin

From gimp + -ed.

gimpy

Origin

Formed from gimp plus the adjective ending -y.

gin

Dutch

The drink's name is a shortened form of "geneva", itself from the Dutch word for juniper — nothing to do with the city of Geneva. The machine/trap sense comes from an older word for a clever device or contraption.

gina

Italian

A shortened, informal form of "vagina", also widely used as an Italian female given name in its own right.

ginch

Origin

Variation of gotch, from Ukrainian га́чі (háči), ґа́чі (gáči).

ginevra

Origin

From Italian Ginevra. Doublet of Jennifer.

ging

Origin

From Middle English gyng, gynge, genge, from Old English genge (“a troop, privy, company, retinue”), from Old Norse gengi, from Proto-Germanic *gangiją (“pace, walk”). Cognate with Middle Low German gink (“a going, turn, way”), Old Norse gengi (“accompaniment, entourage, help”), Icelandic gengi (“rate”). Related to Old English gengan (“to go”), from Proto-Germanic *gangijaną (“to go”). More at gang.

ginger

Latin

Traces back through Old French and Latin to an ancient word in a South Asian language meaning roughly "horn root", describing the knobbly shape of the rhizome.

gingerbread

Old French

From an Old French word for preserved ginger; the ending later shifted to match the English word "bread" purely by coincidence of sound.

gingerly

Origin

The second element is -ly; the first element may be Anglo-Norman gençur or Old French gençor, gensor, comparative forms (also attested as positives) of gent (“beautiful, noble, pleasant, courteous”). The Oxford English Dictionary notes, however, that there is a gap of a few centuries between the last appearance of gençor, etc., and the first appearance of gingerly. The adjective is derived from the adverb, possibly because -ly is also a suffix forming adjectives.

gink

Origin

Unknown but possibly from similar senses of kink or geck. Cf. geek.

ginnel

Origin

From dialectal ginn (“a road or passage down to the sea”) + -el (diminutive suffix), ultimately from Old English gin (“an opening, gap, abyss”) or Old Norse gin (“throat, gullet, maw”), both from Proto-Germanic *giną (“throat, gullet”).

Ginnie

Origin

Diminutive + -ie

Ginny

Origin

Diminutive + -y

gino

Italian

From the common Italian first name Gino, generalised into a slang label for a stereotype.

ginormous

Origin · 1940

A playful blend of "gigantic" and "enormous", first used as 1940s military slang before spreading into everyday speech.

ginseng

Chinese

Borrowed from a Chinese term (via Hokkien) meaning roughly "man root", describing the root's human-like forked shape.

Ginza

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 銀座(ぎんざ) (Ginza).

Gio

Italian

From Italian Gio.