"G" Word Origins

gourmet

French

From French gourmet, originally meaning a wine merchant's servant or wine-taster, related to English "groom".

gout

Latin

From Old French gote/gute, ultimately from Latin gutta ("a drop"), reflecting the old belief that the disease came from bad fluids "dropping" into the joints.

govern

Latin

From Old French governer, ultimately from Latin gubernare, "to steer a ship" — from the same Greek root that gives us "cybernetics".

governance

Old French

From Old French governance, built from the verb "govern" plus the noun ending "-ance".

governess

Old French

From Old French governeresse, "female ruler or administrator", eventually narrowed to mean a private live-in tutor for children.

governless

Origin

From govern + -less.

government

Latin

Via Old French governement from Latin gubernare, 'to steer a ship, to direct', itself borrowed from Greek kybernan.

governmental

Origin

Formed from "government" plus the adjective ending "-al".

governor

Latin

From Latin gubernator, "steersman" or "pilot", from the same Greek root as "govern".

Govinda

Sanskrit

From Sanskrit गोविन्द (Govinda, "finder of cows").

gowan

Scottish Gaelic

A Scots dialect word, ultimately from Scottish Gaelic, whose deeper roots are uncertain.

gowk

Origin

From Middle English goke, gowke, from Old Norse gaukr (“cuckoo”), from Proto-Germanic *gaukaz (“cuckoo”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰegʰuǵʰ- (“cuckoo”).

gown

Late Latin

From Old French goune, ultimately from Late Latin gunna, a word for a fur or leather garment.

goy

Hebrew

From Yiddish goy, borrowed from Hebrew goi, which originally just meant "nation" and came to refer to non-Jewish peoples.

goya

Origin

Borrowed from Okinawan gooyaa, the local name for bitter melon.

goyazite

Origin

? + -ite

goyishkeit

Origin

Borrowed from Yiddish גױיִשקײַט (goyishkayt).

GPS

Origin

An acronym for "Global Positioning System".

GPU

English

An initialism of graphics processing unit.

Gra

Hebrew

From Hebrew גְּרָ״א, an acronym of "Gaon Rabbeinu Eliyahu."

grab

Dutch

From Middle Dutch grabben, "to seize or snatch", tracing back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to gather" or "to seize".

grabber

Origin

Formed from "grab" plus the agent suffix "-er".

grabble

Origin

From grab + -le.

grabby

Origin

From "grab" plus the adjective-forming suffix "-y".

graben

Origin

Borrowed from German Graben (“ditch”), from the verb graben (“to dig”).

grace

Latin

From Old French grace, from Latin gratia, "favor" or "charm", related to gratus, "pleasing" — the same root as "grateful" and "gratitude".

graceful

Middle English

From Middle English graceful, built from grace plus the suffix -ful ("full of").

gracefully

Origin

From graceful plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

graceless

Origin

From Middle English graceles; equivalent to grace + -less.

Graces

Ancient Greek

From Latin Gratiae ("the Graces"), from gratia ("grace, favor"), ultimately from Ancient Greek kharis ("grace, charity").

gracias

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish gracias, meaning "thank you."

Gracie

Origin

From Grace plus the diminutive suffix -ie.

gracile

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French gracil, gracile (“slender, thin”) (modern French gracile (“gracile”)), or directly from its etymon Latin gracilis (“slender, slim, thin; lean, meagre, scanty; simple, unadorned”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kerḱ- (“to become thin; to wane”). The sense “graceful or gracefully slender” was apparently influenced by the non-cognate word grace. The English word is cognate with Italian gracile (“delicate, frail; slender, thin”), Portuguese grácil, Spanish grácil (“graceful; delicate; slender”), and a doublet of gracilis.

gracious

Latin

From Old French gracieus, from Latin gratiosus ("agreeable, obliging"), from gratia ("favor, esteem") — the same root as grace.

graciously

Middle English

From Middle English graciously, from gracious plus -ly.

Grad

Russian

From Russian Град (Grad, “codename for a type of multiple rocket launcher”), from Russian град (grad, “hail”).

gradatim

Origin

Attested in English since 1575–1585: from Latin gradātim, from gradus (“step”).

gradation

Origin

Borrowed from French gradation. By surface analysis, grade + -ation.

grade

Latin

From Middle French grade, from Latin gradus ("a step, degree"), from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to walk" or "to step."

grader

Origin

From grade plus the agent suffix -er.

gradient

Latin

From Latin gradiens, the present participle of gradior ("to step, to walk").

gradual

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin gradualis, from Latin gradus ("step"), the same root behind "grade" and "graduate."

gradually

Origin

From gradual plus the adverb suffix -ly.

graduand

Origin

Attested since 1882. From Medieval Latin graduandus, gerundive of graduō (“to graduate”).

graduate

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin graduatus ("having taken a degree"), from gradus ("step, degree").

graduation

Origin

From graduate plus the noun-forming suffix -ion.

Grady

Irish

From the Irish surname Ó Grádaigh (O'Grady).

Graeme

Old English

A less common spelling of Graham, from Old English.