Where does “gaje” come from?
gaje (Esperanto) comes from Esperanto gaja, from English Gay, from English Queen, from Middle English quene, from Old English cwene, from Old English cwēn, from Proto-West Germanic kwāni, from Proto-Germanic kwēniz — woman.
gaje (Esperanto): merrily; happily
Ancestry of “gaje”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Esperanto | gaja | gay, merry, glad |
| 2 | English | Gay | — |
| 3 | English | Queen | — |
| 4 | Middle English | quene | A queen; Any powerful woman noble; A female... |
| 5 | Old English | cwene | a woman; inflection of cwēn:
##... |
| 6 | Old English | cwēn | queen; woman, wife, queen |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | kwāni | woman, wife |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | kwēniz | wife |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷḗn | woman |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷen- | woman |