English

gearknob

From gear + knob.

A compound of gear + knob

Proto-Germanic *garwijaną ‘to prepare’

Old Norse gervi ‘gear, apparel’

Middle English gere ‘equipment, gear’

English gear

Middle Low German knobbe ‘knob, knot in wood, bud’

Middle English knobbe

English knob

Today it means

noun A knob that forms the handle for the gear lever on a car with manual transmission.

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

Etymograph / gearknob