English
gear
Gear comes from Middle English gere, borrowed from Old Norse gervi ‘apparel’, from Proto-Germanic *garwijaną ‘to prepare’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*garwijaną‘to prepare’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350gervi‘gear, apparel’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gere‘equipment, gear’
- Englishearliest quotation 1551gear
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*garwijaną‘to prepare’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350gervi‘gear, apparel’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gere‘equipment, gear’
- Englishearliest quotation 1551gear
Earliest quotation: 1551, Thomas More, (please specify the Internet Archive page): “Homely gear and common ware.”
A compound of *ga- ‘Indicates association or togetherness’ + *garwaz ‘ready, prepared’
Proto-Indo-European *ḱe ‘Deictic particle, here’
Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm ‘beside, near, by, with’
Proto-Germanic *ga- ‘Indicates association or togetherness’
Proto-Indo-European *h₃er- ‘to move, to stir’
Proto-Germanic *arwaz ‘ready, fast’
Proto-Germanic *garwaz ‘ready, prepared’
Linked words
through Proto-Germanic *garwijaną ‘to prepare’
Today it means
noun Equipment or paraphernalia, especially that used for an athletic endeavor.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *garwijaną / gear