Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “gate” come from?

Gate comes from Old Norse gata, from Proto-Germanic gatwǭ, from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰayd-, a root meaning to divide or separate.

gate (English): A doorlike structure outside a house; Doorway,...

Definitions

  1. A doorlike structure outside a house; Doorway,...

Ancestry of “gate”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishgateAn entryway or entrance to a settlement or...
2Old Englishġeatgate; a gate, door
3Old Frenchgaut—
4Proto-West Germanicwalþuforest
5Proto-Germanicwalþuzforest
6Proto-Indo-Europeanwel-to see

Words derived from “gate”

  • gateway
  • Yeats
  • gatekeeper
  • gatehouse
  • tailgate
  • Southgate
  • gatepost
  • tollgate
  • gateman
  • fluxgate
  • Yeatsian
  • gatefold
  • stargate
  • Ambergate
  • farmgate
  • headgate
  • gateless
  • outgate
  • wastegate
  • yate
  • gatecrash
  • tailgater
  • gateleg
  • multigate
Every word from Proto-Indo-European wel- →