Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “gap” come from?

Gap comes from Middle English gap, from Old Norse gap, from Old Norse gapa meaning to open or yawn.

gap (English): An opening in anything made by breaking or...

Definitions

  1. An opening in anything made by breaking or...

Ancestry of “gap”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishgapeTo open the mouth wide, especially involuntarily,...
2Middle Englishgapen—
3Old Norsegapato gape, open the mouth wide
4Proto-Germanicgapōnąto gaze, observe
5Proto-Indo-Europeanǵʰeh₁y-to yawn, gape; to gape, be wide open; to gape,...
6Proto-Indo-Europeanǵʰih₁-—

Words derived from “gap”

  • bandgap
  • stopgap
  • pseudogap
  • airgap
  • gapless
  • gappy
  • midgap
  • nanogap
  • microgap
  • gapper
  • gappiness
  • multigap
  • intragap
  • subgap
  • minigap
  • widegap
  • pregap
  • gaplessness
  • gaplessly
  • gaplike
  • gap-lapper
  • pseudogapped
  • eigengap
  • gapful
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰih₁- →