English
gust
Gust may come from Middle English *gust.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*gustuncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1609gust
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*gustuncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1609gust
Earliest quotation: 1609, Francis Bacon: “they are merely driven about by every sudden gust…”
The story
Apparently from an unrecorded Middle English *gust, from Old Norse gustr (‘a gust, blast’), from Proto-Germanic *gustiz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰew-. Related also to Old Norse gusa (‘to gush forth’), Old High German gussa (‘flood’), Middle English guschen (> English gush). The English word was not recorded before Shakespeare.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰew- ‘to pour’
god, futile, chemist, giddy, futility, geyser, ingot, gush, 23 more
Another origin of gust
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵews-‘to try, to taste’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵéwstus‘taste’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gustus‘taste’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgustus‘taste’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gust
- Englishtodaysame form
Today it means
noun A strong, abrupt rush of wind.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English *gust / gust