Etymograph

English

gather

Gather comes from Middle English gaderen ‘to assemble, congregate’, from Proto-West Germanic *gadurōn ‘to bring together, unite, gather’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰedʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰedʰ-‘to unite, assemble, keep’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gadurōn‘to bring together, unite, gather’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150gaderian‘to gather, assemble’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gaderen‘to assemble, congregate’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1622gather

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰedʰ-‘to unite, assemble, keep’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gadurōn‘to bring together, unite, gather’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150gaderian‘to gather, assemble’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gaderen‘to assemble, congregate’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1622gather

Earliest quotation: 1622, Francis, Lord Verulam: “Their snow-ball did not gather as it went.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʰedʰ- ‘to unite, assemble, keep’

good, best, better, together, gad, 6 more

Today it means

verb To collect normally separate things.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʰedʰ- / gather

Shirt and support for this word