"G" Word Origins

gam

Italian

From Italian gamba, "leg" — the same root that gives us "gammon" and is related to "ham".

gama

Portuguese

From the Portuguese surname Gama.

gambade

Origin

Borrowed from French gambade.

gambit

Italian · 1600

From Italian gambetto, "a tripping up," from gamba ("leg") — the chess sense entered English in the 1600s.

gamble

Old English

From an earlier form gamel, related to Old English gamenian ("to play, joke"), itself from gamen ("game, amusement") — so gambling and gaming share the same root.

gambler

Origin

From gamble + the agent suffix -er.

gambling

Origin

Formed from gamble + -ing.

Gamboa

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish Gamboa, from Basque Ganboa.

gambol

Origin

From earlier gambolde, from Middle French gambade (modern gambade).

game

Old English

From Old English gamen, meaning "sport, joy, amusement" — related to "gammon" and "gamble".

gameboard

Origin

From game + board. First attested in 1826.

gamebreaking

Origin

From game + breaking.

gamekeeper

Origin

From game (wild animals hunted for sport) + keeper.

gamer

Origin

From game + the agent suffix -er; the word predates video games by centuries but is now most associated with them.

gamesman

Origin

From games + -man.

gamester

Origin

Derived from game + -ster.

gamine

Origin

Borrowed from French gamine.

gamma

Ancient Greek

A learned borrowing from Ancient Greek gámma, the letter's name.

gammon

Origin

From Middle English *gammon, gambon, from Old French gambon (compare modern French jambon (“ham”)), from gambe (“leg”), from Late Latin gamba, from Ancient Greek καμπή (kampḗ). Doublet of jambon and jamon.

gammy

Welsh

Origin uncertain — possibly linked to dialectal English "game" (meaning lame) or to Welsh cam ("crooked").

gamp

Origin

From GAMP (“gynandromorphophilia”).

gamut

Origin

1520s, original sense “lowest note of musical scale”, contraction of Medieval Latin gamma ut, from gamma (“Greek letter, corresponding to the musical note G”) + ut (“first solfège syllable, now replaced by do”). In modern terms, “G do” – the first note of the G scale. Meaning later extended to mean all the notes of a scale, and then more generally any complete range.

gan

Middle English

Probably a variant of gang, from Middle English gangen, from Old English gangan (“to step; walk; go”).

Gandalf

Old Norse

Tolkien borrowed the name from Old Norse, where it appears in the "Völuspá" poem meaning roughly "wand-elf."

gander

Old English

From Old English gandra, related to Proto-Germanic roots for "goose" — the "quick look" sense comes from the image of craning your neck like a goose to see something.

Gandhi

Sanskrit

From Gujarati gāndhī, "grocer" or "perfume trader," ultimately from Sanskrit gandha ("perfume, scent").

Ganesha

Sanskrit

Borrowed directly from Sanskrit gaṇeśa.

gang

Old English

From Old English gangan, "to go or walk" — the sense shifted from simply "a group going somewhere together" to today's meaning of an organized, often criminal, group.

ganga

French

From French ganga, from Catalan ganga.

gangbanger

Origin

From gang + bang, with the agent suffix -er.

gangboard

Origin

From gang (“way, path, course of travel”) + board (“plank”).

gangbusters

Origin

Shortened from the phrase "like gangbusters," originally referring to police busting up crime gangs with dramatic force.

gangdom

Origin

From gang + -dom.

Ganges

Latin

Via Latin and Greek from Sanskrit gáṅgā, meaning roughly "swift-goer".

gangland

Origin

From gang + land.

Gangnam

Korean

From Korean, literally meaning "south of the river".

gangplank

Origin

From gang ("way, passage") + plank.

gangrene

Ancient Greek

Via French and Latin from Ancient Greek gángraina, meaning "gangrene".

gangster

Origin · 1880

From gang + -ster, first recorded in the 1880s.

gangway

Old English

From Old English gangweġ, literally "a way for going" — from gang ("go, walk") + way.

ganja

Sanskrit · 1800

Borrowed from Hindi gāñjā, ultimately from Sanskrit gañjā ("hemp"); it entered English use around 1800.

gannet

Origin

From Middle English ganet, gante, from Old English ganot, from Proto-West Germanic *ganat, *ganatō, from Proto-Germanic *ganatuz, *ganutô (“gander”), ultimately related to Proto-Germanic *ganzô. Cognates Cognate with Dutch gent, Middle Low German gante, German Ganter, Ganser, all “gander, male goose”.

Gannon

Irish

Derived from Irish Mag Fhionnáin "son of Finan".

Gant

Origin

* As a French and English surname, from gant (“glove”). * As a German and Swiss/Alemannic German surname, possibly related to Gand (“scree”); compare Gander. Or, related to Gans (“goose”).

gantry

Origin

From an earlier word "gauntree," possibly from a dialect word for "gallon" plus "tree" (as in a wooden frame).

Ganymede

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek Ganumḗdēs, likely meaning "delighting in thought" — the Jupiter moon was named after the mythological figure.

Ganz

German

* As a German and Alemannic German surname, from Gans (“goose”). * Also as a German surname, shortened from Ganso, derived from ganz (“whole”). * Also as a German surname, possibly altered from Hans with Russian influence. * As a Jewish surname, directly from German ganz (“whole”).

Gao

Origin

From Mandarin 高 (Gāo).