Etymograph

English

gape

Gape comes from Old Norse gapa ‘to gape’, from Proto-Germanic *gapōną ‘to gaze, observe’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₂- ‘to gape, be wide open’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeh₂-‘to gape, be wide open’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gapōną‘to gaze, observe’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350gapa‘to gape’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gapen
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1592gape

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeh₂-‘to gape, be wide open’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gapōną‘to gaze, observe’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350gapa‘to gape’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gapen
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1592gape

Earliest quotation: c. 1591–1592, William Shakespeare, The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “May that ground gape, and swallow me alive, /…”

The story

From Middle English gapen, from Old Norse gapa (‘to gape’) (compare Swedish gapa, Danish gabe), from Proto-Germanic *gapōną (descendants Middle English geapen, Dutch gapen, German gaffen), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰеh₂b-.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₂- ‘to gape, be wide open’

goal, gas, chaos, gum, chaotic, gill, hiatus, gab, 10 more

through Old Norse gapa ‘to gape’

gap

Today it means

verb To open the mouth wide, especially involuntarily, as in a yawn, anger, or surprise.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₂- / gape

Shirt and support for this word