Where does “gak” come from?
gak (Danish) comes from Old Norse gakk, from English Jack, from Middle English jakke, from Anglo-Norman jacke, from Middle French jaque, from Middle French jacques, from French jacques, from Latin Iacobus — heel of the foot; heel.
gak (Danish): bats, nuts; madness, insanity; imperative of gå
Definitions
- bats, nuts; madness, insanity; imperative of gå
Ancestry of “gak”, step by step
gak traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Old Norse gakk
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old Norse | gakk | second-person singular imperative active of ganga |
| 2 | English | Jack | A placeholder or conventional name for any man,... |
| 3 | Middle English | jakke | A padded coat, especially as light armour |
| 4 | Anglo-Norman | jacke | — |
| 5 | Middle French | jaque | — |
| 6 | Middle French | jacques | — |
| 7 | French | jacques | plural of jacque; a stupid person; a jemmy or... |
| 8 | Latin | Iacobus | Jacob; James; Saint James |
| 9 | Ancient Greek | Ἰάκωβος | — |
| 10 | Ancient Greek | Ἰακώβ | Jacob |
| 11 | Hebrew | יַעֲקֹב | Jacob |
| 12 | Hebrew | עָקֵב | heel of the foot; heel |
via Danish gaga
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Danish | gaga | gaga |
| 2 | French | gaga | gaga (senile) |
| 3 | French | gâter | to spoil, ruin; to go bad, go off |
| 4 | Middle French | gaster | to waste; to destroy |
| 5 | Old French | gaster | to waste; to destroy |
| 6 | Latin | vastus | Empty, unoccupied, i.e. waste, desert; Desolate,... |
| 7 | Proto-Celtic | wāstos | empty |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁weh₂- | to leave, abandon, give out |