Etymograph

English

goad

Goad comes from Proto-Germanic *gaidō ‘prickle’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰey- ‘to drive, move, hurl, fling’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰey-‘to drive, move, hurl, fling’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gaidō‘prickle’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gaidureconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150gād
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gode
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1856goad

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰey-‘to drive, move, hurl, fling’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gaidō‘prickle’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gaidureconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150gād
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gode
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1856goad

Earliest quotation: 1856, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Samuel Johnson: “the daily goad urging him to the daily toil”.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰey- ‘to drive, move, hurl, fling’

gore, hibernation, chimera, hibernate, ahimsa, 13 more

Today it means

noun A long, pointed stick used to prod animals.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰey- / goad

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