Etymograph

English

gaiter

Gaiter comes from Proto-Germanic *wastijō ‘garment’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wes- ‘to dress, put on clothes’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wes-‘to dress, put on clothes’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wastijō‘garment’reconstructed
  3. Frankishc. 250–700*wastijureconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400*guestereconstructed
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600guiestres
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentguêtre
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1897gaiter

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wes-‘to dress, put on clothes’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wastijō‘garment’reconstructed
  3. Frankishc. 250–700*wastijureconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400*guestereconstructed
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600guiestres
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentguêtre
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1897gaiter

Earliest quotation: 1897, Winston Churchill: “Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wes- ‘to dress, put on clothes’

wear, invest, vest, bison, venal, basmati, vend, 24 more

Today it means

noun A covering of cloth or leather for the ankle and instep.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wes- / gaiter

Shirt and support for this word