Etymograph

English

gab

Gab comes from Old Norse gabb ‘jest, mockery’, from Proto-Germanic *gabbōną ‘to joke, to mock’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₂- ‘to gape, be wide open’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeh₂-1‘to gape, be wide open’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gabbōną2‘to joke, to mock’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350gabb2‘jest, mockery’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gab2
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1940gab2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *gabbōną, which cites Kroonen
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English gab
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1940, S. Richards, Locomotive Valve gear Development: “Loose eccentric reversing gear gave way about 1836 to…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeh₂-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *gabbōną, which cites Kroonen‘to gape, be wide open’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gabbōnąWiktionary, English gab‘to joke, to mock’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350gabbWiktionary, English gab‘jest, mockery’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gabWiktionary, English gab
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1940gabWiktionary, English gab. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1940, S. Richards, Locomotive Valve gear Development: “Loose eccentric reversing gear gave way about 1836 to…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₂- ‘to gape, be wide open’

goal, gas, chaos, gum, gap, chaotic, gill, hiatus, gape, 10 more

Another origin of gab

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰeh₁bʰ-‘to be split, be forked, gape’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gabbōną‘to mock, jest’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gabbōn‘to joke, mock’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150gabban‘to scoff, mock, delude, jest’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gabben
  6. Englishtodaygab

Today it means

noun Idle chatter.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “gab”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *gabbōną. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₂- / gab

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