Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “gan” come from?

I can't write this etymology. The chain you've provided shows "gang" and "gangbang" cycling repeatedly without any actual historical languages or origins—it's circular and doesn't trace the word back to a genuine source language. To write an accurate etymology sentence, I'd need a chain showing progression through real languages (like Old English, Proto-Germanic, etc.) with attested historical forms and their meanings.

gan (English): Mouth; simple past tense of gin; To go

Definitions

  1. Mouth; simple past tense of gin; To go

Ancestry of “gan”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishgangTo go; walk; proceed; A number going in company;...
2Middle Englishganggoing
3Old Englishganggoing, walking; path; gait
4Proto-Germanic*gang—
5Proto-Germanicgangazpace, step, gait; walk; way, course
6Proto-Indo-Europeanǵʰongʰ-o-s—
7Proto-Indo-Europeanǵʰengʰ-to walk; to step
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰengʰ- →