English
gaffle
Gaffle comes from Middle Dutch gaffel, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *gabulu ‘fork’.
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gabulu‘fork’reconstructed
- Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500gaffel
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gaffolle
- Englishearliest quotation 1854gaffle
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gabulu‘fork’reconstructed
- Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500gaffel
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gaffolle
- Englishearliest quotation 1854gaffle
Earliest quotation: 1854, Herman Melville., The Encantadas: “Now, sword or dagger, human arms are but artifical…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ- ‘to grab, take’
due, average, able, ability, doubt, exhibition, habit, prohibition, debit, endeavor, prohibit, dubious, inhibition, inhibit, javelin, gab, haver, aver, debenture, habilitation, 25 more
Today it means
noun A lever used to bend a crossbow.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *gabulu / gaffle