English
gearwheel
From gear + wheel.
Proto-Germanic *garwijaną ‘to prepare’
Old Norse gervi ‘gear, apparel’
Middle English gere ‘equipment, gear’
English gear
Proto-Indo-European *kʷékʷlos ‘wheel’
Proto-Germanic *hwehwlą ‘wheel’
Proto-Germanic *hweulō ‘wheels (plural of *hwehwlą)’
Old English hwēol ‘wheel’
Middle English whel ‘wheel’
English wheel
Today it means
noun —
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / gearwheel