Where does “gapes” come from?
Gapes comes from Middle English gapen, from Old Norse gapa, meaning to open the mouth wide.
gapes (English): Third-person singular simple present indicative...
Definitions
- Third-person singular simple present indicative...
Ancestry of “gapes”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | gape | To open the mouth wide, especially involuntarily,... |
| 2 | Middle English | gapen | — |
| 3 | Old Norse | gapa | to gape, open the mouth wide |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | gapōną | to gaze, observe |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵʰeh₁y- | to yawn, gape; to gape, be wide open; to gape,... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵʰih₁- | — |