Etymograph

English

gather

Gather comes from Middle English gaderen ‘to assemble, congregate’, from Proto-West Germanic *gadurōn ‘to bring together, unite, gather’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰedʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰedʰ-1‘to unite, assemble, keep’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gadurōn1‘to bring together, unite, gather’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150gaderian1‘to gather, assemble’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gaderen1‘to assemble, congregate’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1622gather1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English gather
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1622, Francis, Lord Verulam: “Their snow-ball did not gather as it went.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰedʰ-Wiktionary, English gather‘to unite, assemble, keep’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gadurōnWiktionary, English gather‘to bring together, unite, gather’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150gaderianWiktionary, English gather‘to gather, assemble’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gaderenWiktionary, English gather‘to assemble, congregate’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1622gatherWiktionary, English gather. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1622, Francis, Lord Verulam: “Their snow-ball did not gather as it went.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʰedʰ- ‘to unite, assemble, keep’

good, best, better, together, gad, 6 more

Today it means

verb To collect normally separate things.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “gather”. 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 *gʰedʰ- / gather

Shirt and support for this word