English
garbage
Garbage comes from Old French garber ‘to refine, make neat or clean’, and goes back to Frankish *garwijan.
- Frankishc. 250–700*garwijan‘to make ready’reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400garber‘to refine, make neat or clean’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500garbage‘the offal of a fowl, giblets, kitchen waste”, originally “refuse, what is purged away’
- Englishearliest quotation 1674same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Frankishc. 250–700*garwijan‘to make ready’reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400garber‘to refine, make neat or clean’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500garbage‘the offal of a fowl, giblets, kitchen waste”, originally “refuse, what is purged away’
- Englishearliest quotation 1674same form
Earliest quotation: 1674, John Josselyn, Two Voyages to New England: “I have bought at Boston a dozen Pidgeons ready…”
Every English word from Frankish *garwijan
Today it means
noun Food waste material of any kind.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Frankish *garwijan / garbage