"G" Word Origins

gainstay

Origin

From gain- + stay (“to stand”). Compare gainstand.

gainstrife

Origin

From gain- + strife. Compare gainstrive.

gainstriving

Origin

From gainstrive + -ing.

gait

Origin

From an old use of "gate" meaning "way" or "manner" — the same root that gives us the word "gate" itself.

gajanana

Origin

Borrowed from Sanskrit गजानन (gajānana)

gal

Origin · 1700

A casual, dialectal pronunciation of "girl," first recorded in the late 1700s.

gala

Old French

From French gala, itself from Italian or Spanish gala meaning "festive occasion," ultimately traced back to an Old French word for rejoicing.

galactic

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek galaktikos ("milky"), from gala ("milk") — the same root as "galaxy," since the Milky Way looks like a pale band of light.

Galahad

Old French

From the Old French name Galahad, of uncertain origin, possibly linked to the biblical place name Gilead.

galalith

Origin

Trade name, from Ancient Greek γάλα (gála, “milk”) + -lith.

Galan

Spanish

From Spanish Galán, from galán (“gallant”). Doublet of Gallant.

galaxy

Greek

From Greek galaxias, short for "milky circle," from gala ("milk") — describing the pale, milky band of the Milky Way visible in the night sky.

gale

Old Norse

Of uncertain origin, first recorded in English describing strong winds; possibly related to an Old Norse word for a squall.

Galen

Ancient Greek

From the Ancient Greek name Galenos, related to a Greek word meaning "calm."

Galicia

Latin

From Latin Gallaecia, named after the Gallaeci, a Celtic tribe who lived in the region.

galilee

Latin

From Latin Galilaea, ultimately from a Hebrew name for the region; the architectural sense may allude to Galilee as an outlying "porch" area of biblical Palestine.

galileo

Origin · 1564

Named in honor of the scientist Galileo Galilei (1564-1642).

galimatias

Origin

Borrowed from French galimatias, first attested in 1653 in Sir Thomas Urquhart's translation of Rabelais's works.

Galina

Greek

From Russian and Bulgarian Galina, ultimately from the Greek word for "calm," also the name of a sea nymph in Greek myth.

gall

Old English

From Old English geealla ("bile"). The figurative sense of "nerve" or "audacity" grew out of old medical beliefs that linked bile to bitterness and boldness of temperament.

Gallagher

Irish

From Irish Gaelic Ó Gallchobhair, meaning "descendant of the foreign helper."

gallant

Old French

From Old French galant, related to a word meaning "to make merry" — the sense shifted over time from "showy, festive" to "brave" and "chivalrous."

gallanthood

Origin

From gallant + -hood.

gallantness

Origin

From Middle English galauntnesse, galantnesse, equivalent to gallant + -ness.

gallantry

French

From French galanterie, built on gallant plus the suffix -ry.

galleon

Middle French

From Middle French galion or Spanish galeón, an enlarged form related to "galley," describing a bigger version of the earlier oar-and-sail ships.

galleria

Italian

Borrowed directly from Italian galleria, the same root that gives English "gallery."

gallerist

Origin

From gallery + -ist, possibly by analogy with artist, or influenced by French galeriste; compare German Galerist. Attested since 1962, popular in US since 2000s.

gallery

Medieval Latin

From Old French galerie ("a long portico"), from Medieval Latin galeria, of uncertain origin — possibly linked to Galilee, referring to a church porch.

galley

Old French

From Old French galee, ultimately from a Byzantine Greek word possibly related to a term for a small shark or dogfish, referencing the ship's sleek shape.

Gallipoli

Italian

From Italian Gallipoli, from Turkish Gelibolu, ultimately from Greek words meaning roughly "beautiful city."

gallipot

Origin

From uncertain first element + pot.

gallivant

Origin

1809, from gallant (“wooing women”), originally in sense “to flirt”, broadened to mean “roaming without plan”.

Gallo

Italian

As an Italian or Spanish surname, from a word meaning "rooster"; as a language name, from Breton gall, meaning "a Gaul or foreigner."

gallon

Vulgar Latin

From Old Northern French galun, ultimately traced back to a Vulgar Latin word for a vessel or container.

gallop

Old French

From Old French galoper, from a Frankish phrase meaning "to run well."

gallophone

Origin

From Gallo- + -phone.

gallovidian

Origin

From Latin Gallovidia (“Galloway”), from Cumbric/Welsh Gallgwyddel.

Galloway

Scottish Gaelic

From Scottish Gaelic Gall-Ghàidhealaibh, literally "(among the) foreign Gaels," referring to the Gaelic-speaking Norse settlers of the area.

gallows

Old English

From Old English galga, related to words in other Germanic languages for a pole or gallows frame; the plural-looking form probably refers to the two upright beams.

Gallup

Origin

English surname, possibly from the verb gallop; or also possibly shortened from Galpin.

galoot

Origin

From Quranic Arabic جالُوت (jālūt, pronounced galūt in Egyptian Arabic), proper name equivalent to English Goliath, giant warrior of the ancient Philistine ethnicity; cf. connotations of derogatory uses of English Philistine. Doublet of goliath.

galore

Scottish Gaelic

Borrowed from Irish go leor and Scottish Gaelic gu leòr, meaning "enough" or "plenty."

galosh

Origin

From Middle English galoche, from Old French galoche (“a shoe with a wooden sole”), but its further history is uncertain. further theories * From Vulgar Latin *galopium or Late Latin calopedia (“a wooden shoe; a shoe with a wooden sole”), from Ancient Greek κᾱλοπόδιον (kālopódion), diminutive of κᾱλόπους (kālópous, “shoemaker's block”), compound of κᾶλον (kâlon, “wood”) and πούς (poús, “foot”). (More at holt and foot.) * From Late Latin gallicula, diminutive of Latin gallica (solea) (“Gallic (sandal)”). * From Old French galette (“flat round cake”), from galet (“pebble”).

Galvan

Spanish

From Spanish Galván, ultimately from Latin Galbanus, from Galba + -anus (“-an”), from galba (“larva, worm, fatty”), from Gaulish of uncertain meaning. Doublet of Galvao, Galvano, and Galvani.

galvanize

Origin

Learned borrowing from French galvaniser. By surface analysis, galvano- + -ize. Named after Italian physiologist Luigi Aloisio Galvani (1737–1798).

Galvin

Irish

Two main origins: * Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Gealbháin (“descendant of Gealbhán”), a personal name composed of the elements geal (“bright”) and bán (“white”). * Borrowed from French Galvin, either a variant of Gauvain or a nickname for a drunkard, from Old French galer (“to enjoy oneself”).

Galway

Irish

Anglicization of Irish Gaillimh, of uncertain meaning, said to mean "stony' (referring to the River Corrib). If so, it probably derives from Old Irish calad (“hard”); compare caillou, of Gaulish origin.