English

gaffer grip

Gaffer grip comes from English gaffer ‘lighting electrician’.

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

A compound of gaffer ‘lighting electrician’ + grip

Proto-Indo-European *gʰreyb- ‘to grab, grasp’

Proto-Germanic *grīpaną ‘to grab, grasp’

Proto-Germanic *gripjaną ‘to grip’

Old English grippan ‘to seize’

Middle English grippen ‘to grip or grab onto’

English grip

Every English word from English gaffer

noun A clamp that can be attached to part of a set and used to hold lights.

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