Etymograph

English

gannet

Gannet comes from Old English ganot ‘gannet (sea-bird)’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *ganatuz.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ganatuzreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*ganatreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150ganot‘gannet (sea-bird)’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ganet
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1850gannet

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ganatuzreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*ganatreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150ganot‘gannet (sea-bird)’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ganet
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1850gannet

Earliest quotation: 1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology: “Not but that they were kind and humane to…”

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *ganatuz

Today it means

noun Any of three species of large seabird in the genus Morus, of the family Sulidae. They have black and white bodies and long pointed wings, and hunt for fish by plunge diving and pursuing their prey underwater.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *ganatuz / gannet

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