Etymograph

English

gape

Gape comes from Old Norse gapa ‘to gape’, from Proto-Germanic *gapōną ‘to gaze, observe’, 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*gapōną1‘to gaze, observe’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350gapa2‘to gape’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gapen2
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1592gape2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old Norse gapa
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English gape
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1591–1592, William Shakespeare, The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “May that ground gape, and swallow me alive, /…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeh₂-Wiktionary, Old Norse gapa‘to gape, be wide open’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gapōnąWiktionary, Old Norse gapa‘to gaze, observe’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350gapaWiktionary, English gape‘to gape’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gapenWiktionary, English gape
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1592gapeWiktionary, English gape. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1591–1592, William Shakespeare, The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “May that ground gape, and swallow me alive, /…”

The story

From Middle English gapen, from Old Norse gapa (‘to gape’) (compare Swedish gapa, Danish gabe), from Proto-Germanic *gapōną (descendants Middle English geapen, Dutch gapen, German gaffen), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰеh₂b-.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

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

goal, gas, chaos, gum, chaotic, gill, hiatus, gab, 10 more

through Old Norse gapa ‘to gape’

gap

Today it means

verb To open the mouth wide, especially involuntarily, as in a yawn, anger, or surprise.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “gape”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old Norse gapa. 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- / gape

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