English
gauche
Gauche comes from French gauche ‘left, awkward’, from gauchir ‘to veer, turn’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *welH-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*welH-‘to turn, to wind, roll’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*welk-reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*walkaną‘to full, roll up’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*walkan‘to full, trample’reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400gaucher‘to trample, walk clumsily’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentgauchir‘to veer, turn’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentgauche‘left, awkward’
- Englishearliest quotation 1836same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*welH-‘to turn, to wind, roll’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*welk-reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*walkaną‘to full, roll up’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*walkan‘to full, trample’reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400gaucher‘to trample, walk clumsily’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentgauchir‘to veer, turn’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentgauche‘left, awkward’
- Englishearliest quotation 1836same form
Earliest quotation: 1836, Samuel Griswold Goodrich, The Outcast and Other Poems: “Seeking by vulgar pomp and gauche display In 'good…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *welH- ‘to turn, to wind, roll’
well, walk, wall, volume, revolution, evolution, involve, valve, evolve, revolt, vault, waltz, vulgar, convoluted, helix, divulge, voluminous, vagrant, vulva, wale, convolution, iliac, ilium, vulgate, involution, voluble, valvular, valise, 75 more
through Proto-Germanic *walkaną ‘to full, roll up’
Today it means
adj Awkward or lacking in social graces; bumbling; apt to make gaffes.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *welH- / gauche