English
game
Game comes from Old English gamen ‘sport, game, pastime’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *gamaną ‘amusement, pleasure’, of uncertain origin.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gamaną‘amusement, pleasure’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gaman‘pleasure, fun, amusement’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150gamen‘sport, game, pastime’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500game
- Englishearliest quotation 1599game
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gamaną‘amusement, pleasure’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gaman‘pleasure, fun, amusement’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150gamen‘sport, game, pastime’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500game
- Englishearliest quotation 1599game
Earliest quotation: 1599, William Shakespeare, The Life of Henry the Fift: “I ſee you ſtand like Grey-hounds in the ſlips,…”
A compound of *ga- ‘Indicates association or togetherness’ + *mann- ‘man’
Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm ‘with, near, by, along’
Proto-Germanic *ga- ‘Indicates association or togetherness’
Proto-Indo-European *mon- ‘man’
Proto-Germanic *mann- ‘man’
Linked words
through Proto-Germanic *gamaną ‘amusement, pleasure, game", literally…’
through Old English gamen ‘sport, joy, mirth, pastime, game, amusement,…’
Today it means
noun A playful activity that may be unstructured; an amusement or pastime.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *gamaną / game