English
gamine
Gamine comes from French gamine ‘kid (child)’.
- Frenchc. 1600–presentgamine‘kid (child)’
- Englishearliest quotation 1984same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Frenchc. 1600–presentgamine‘kid (child)’
- Englishearliest quotation 1984same form
Earliest quotation: 1984, Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac: “In her navy linen trousers and her, perhaps too…”
Every English word from French gamine
Today it means
noun A (usually female) street urchin; a homeless girl.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / French gamine / gamine