Etymograph

English

gab

Gab comes from Old Norse gabb ‘jest, mockery’, from Proto-Germanic *gabbōną ‘to joke, to mock’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₂- ‘to gape, be wide open’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeh₂-‘to gape, be wide open’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gabbōną‘to joke, to mock’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350gabb‘jest, mockery’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gab
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1940same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeh₂-‘to gape, be wide open’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gabbōną‘to joke, to mock’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350gabb‘jest, mockery’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gab
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1940same form

Earliest quotation: 1940, S. Richards, Locomotive Valve gear Development: “Loose eccentric reversing gear gave way about 1836 to…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₂- ‘to gape, be wide open’

goal, gas, chaos, gum, gap, chaotic, gill, hiatus, gape, 10 more

Another origin of gab

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰeh₁bʰ-‘to be split, be forked, gape’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gabbōną‘to mock, jest’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gabbōn‘to joke, mock’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150gabban‘to scoff, mock, delude, jest’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gabben
  6. Englishtodaygab

Today it means

noun Idle chatter.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₂- / gab

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