Where does “-gate” come from?

-gate (English) comes from English Watergate, from English water, from Middle English water, from Old English wæter, from Proto-West Germanic watar, from Proto-Germanic watōr, from Proto-Indo-European wódr̥, from Proto-Indo-European wed- — to wither; fade; to move, go ahead; to be strong;...

-gate (English): Combined with keywords to form the names of...

Definitions

  1. Combined with keywords to form the names of...

Ancestry of “-gate”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishWatergateAn American political scandal (beginning with a burglary in the Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC, in 1972) that eventually led to the resignation of US President Richard Nixon
2EnglishwaterA substance found at room temperature and...
3Middle Englishwaterwater; water vapour, condensation; lake, pond,...
4Old Englishwæterwater
5Proto-West Germanicwatarwater
6Proto-Germanicwatōrwater
7Proto-Indo-Europeanwódr̥water
8Proto-Indo-Europeanwed-water
9Proto-Indo-Europeanwey-to wither; fade; to move, go ahead; to be strong;...

Words derived from “-gate

Every word from Proto-Indo-European wey-