英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

gaga (adj.)[gaga 词源字典]: "crazy, silly," 1920, probably from French gaga "senile, foolish," probably imitative of meaningless babbling.[gaga etymology, gaga origin, 英语词源]
gage (n.): "a pledge, a pawn, something valuable deposited to insure performance," especially "something thrown down as a token of challenge," c. 1300, from Old French gage "pledge (of battle), security, guarantee; pay, reward" (11c.), from Frankish *wadja-, from Proto-Germanic *wadi- (see wed). Italian gaggio, Spanish and Portuguese gage are French loan-words.
gage (v.): c. 1400, "to deposit as security," from Old French gager, gagier "to guarantee, promise, pledge, swear; bet, wager; pay," from gage "security, pledge" (see gage (n.)). Related: Gaged; gaging. For the measuring sense, see gauge (v.).
gaggle (n.): late 15c., gagyll, with reference to both geese and women (on the notion of "chattering company"). Barnhart says possibly from Old Norse gagl "small goose, gosling, wild goose;" OED calls it "one of the many artificial terms invented in the 15th c. as distinctive collectives referring to particular animals or classes of persons." Possibly of imitative origin (compare Dutch gagelen "to chatter;" Middle English gaggle "to cackle," used of geese, attested from late 14c.). The loosened general sense of "group of people" is from 1946.
Gaia (n.): Earth as a goddess, from Greek Gaia, spouse of Uranus, mother of the Titans, personification of gaia "earth" (as opposed to heaven), "land" (as opposed to sea), "a land, country, soil;" it is a collateral form of ge (Dorian ga) "earth," which is of unknown origin and perhaps from a pre-Indo-European language of Greece. The Roman equivalent goddess of the earth was Tellus (see tellurian), sometimes used in English poetically or rhetorically for "Earth personified" or "the Earth as a planet."
gaiety (n.): "cheerfulness, mirth," 1630s, from French gaieté (Old French gaiete, 12c.), from gai "gay" (see gay). In the 1890s, in Britain, especially with reference to a London theater of that name, and the kind of musical shows and dancing girls it presented.
Gail: fem. proper name, in some cases short for Abigail, or from the Hebrew root in that name meaning "rejoicing." Attained its greatest popularity in U.S. as a given name for girls born c. 1945-1955.
gaily (adj.): also gayly, "with mirth and frolic," late 14c., from Middle English gai (see gay) + -ly (2). "The spelling gaily is the more common, and is supported by the only existing analogy, that of daily" [OED].
gain (n.): late 15c., "that which has been acquired" (possessions, resources, wealth), from Middle French gain, from Old French gaaigne "gain, profit, advantage; work, business; booty; arable land" (12c.), from gaaignier "to gain, earn; capture, win" (see gain (v.)). Meaning "any incremental increase" (in weight, etc.) is by 1851. Related: Gains.

The original French word enfolded the notions of "profit from agriculture" and "booty, prey." Neither the verb nor the noun gain is in Middle English, which however had gainage "profit derived from agriculture" (late 14c., from Old French gaaignage); gaineier "farmer" (late 13c. as a surname); gainerie "a farm" (mid-15c.).
gain (v.): 1520s, "obtain as profit," from Middle French gagner, from Old French gaaignier "to earn, gain; trade; capture, win," also "work in the fields, cultivate land," from Frankish *waidanjan "hunt, forage," also "graze, pasture," from Proto-Germanic *waithanjan "to hunt, plunder," from *waithjo- "pursuit, hunting" (cognates: Old English waþ "hunting," German Weide "pasture, pasturage," Old Norse veiðr "hunting, fishing, catch of fish"), from PIE *weie- "to strive after, pursue with vigor, desire" (see venison). Meaning "obtain by effort or striving" is from 1540s; intransitive sense of "profit, make gain" is from 1570s. Meaning "arrive at" is from c. 1600. Of timepieces by 1861. Related: Gained; gaining. To gain on "advance nearer" is from 1719. To gain ground (1620s) was originally military.
gainer (n.): "one who gains or profits," 1530s, agent noun from gain (v.). As "one who (deliberately) gains weight" by 2000s.
gainful (adj.): "producing profit or advantage," 1550s, from gain (n.) + -ful. Phrase gainfully employed attested from 1796. Related: Gainfully (1540s).
gainly (adj.): "well-formed and agile," 1886, probably a back-formation from ungainly. Earlier "ready, prompt" (1620s), from gain (n.).
gainsay (v.): "contradict, deny, dispute," c. 1300, literally "say against," from gain- (Old English gegn- "against;" see again) + say (v.). In Middle English it translates Latin contradicere. "Solitary survival of a once common prefix" [Weekley]. It also figured in such now-obsolete compounds as gain-taking "taking back again," gainclap "a counterstroke," gainbuy "redeem," Gaincoming "Second Advent," and gainstand "to oppose." Related: Gainsaid; gainsaying.
gainst (adv.): also 'gainst, shortened form of against.
gait (n.): c. 1300, gate "a going or walking, departure, journey," earlier "way, road, path" (c. 1200), from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Norse gata "way, road, path"), from Proto-Germanic *gatwon "a going" (cognates: Old High German gazza "street," German Gasse "a way, road," Gothic gatwo), perhaps from PIE *ghe- "to release, let go." Meaning "manner of walking, carriage of the body while walking" is from mid-15c. Modern spelling developed before 1750, originally in Scottish. Related: Gaited.
gaiter (n.): "leather cover for the ankle," 1775, from French guêtre "belonging to peasant attire," of unknown origin; perhaps from Middle French *guestre, from Frankish *wrist "instep," from Proto-Germanic *wirstiz (source also of German Rist "instep;" see wrist (n.)). Related: Gaiters; gaitered (1760).
gal (n.): slang pronunciation of girl, 1795, originally noted as a vulgarism (in Benjamin Dearborn's "Columbian Grammar"). Compare gell, 19c. literary form of the Northern England dialectal variant of girl, also g'hal, the girlfriend of a b'hoy (1849). Gal Friday is 1940, in reference to "Robinson Crusoe."
gala (n.): 1620s, "festive dress or attire" (obsolete), from French en gala, perhaps from Old French gale "merriment," from galer "rejoice, make merry" (see gallant). Klein suggests the French word is from Italian gala (as in phrase vestito di gala "robe of state"), perhaps from Arabic khil'a "fine garment given as a presentation." Sense of "festive occasion" (characterized by display of finery) first recorded 1777. Quasi-adjectival use in gala day "day of festivities," etc.
galactic (adj.): 1839, "of the Milky Way, of the bright band of stars around the night sky," from Late Latin galacticus, from galaxias (see galaxy). In modern scientific sense "pertaining to (our) galaxy," from 1849. From 1844 as "of or pertaining to milk."