Etymologically
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gamble

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈɡæm.bəl/[1]

Etymology

It is probably from English game + -le, formed in English on either the verb or the noun game;[2][3][4] the ending may be the frequentative suffix, or the word may reflect a form of game with a short vowel, and the -b- is a later intrusive consonant.[2] Etymonline and Hoad take it from gamel (“to play games”), recorded in the 16th century,[5][6][3] itself an alteration of gamenen (“to play, jest, be merry”),[5][6][7] which continues Old English gamenian (“to play, joke”), from gamen (“game, fun”).[5][8][9] Merriam-Webster thinks the verb is probably a back-formation from gambler,[10] and the OED and Barnhart note that gambling (1726) and gambler (1747) are recorded before the verb, so that either derivation is possible.[2][7] Etymonline and Barnhart suggest that the -b- comes from confusion with the unrelated gambol,[5][7] and Weekley also thought gambol had a part in the form.[11] The OED compares dialect gammle (“to gamble”) in Yorkshire and Ulster, and gamel in 19th-century Northumberland.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To strip someone of something, especially money, by gambling, with out of: 1753, in an Essay on Deism; this sense is now rare.[2] The participle gambling, playing for high stakes, is recorded from 1726.[7][5]

Semantic evolution

The word was at first regarded as slang,[5] and Weekley notes that in the 18th century it carried a sense of cheating.[11] The ordinary intransitive sense, to play games of chance for money or to bet on an event, is recorded from 1757,[2][12] the date Merriam-Webster also gives.[10] From the start of the 19th century it was used of risk-taking in general: to take reckless risks from 1802 and to stake something on an uncertain outcome, gamble on, from 1804.[2] The transitive sense, to squander money by gambling, usually gamble away, is recorded from 1764,[2] though Etymonline dates it to 1808.[5] The noun followed the verb: a risky venture from 1823, in William Cobbett's Rural Rides,[2][7][5] a bout of gambling from 1785, and a single bet from 1883.[2] Colloquial assurances such as you can gamble on that are recorded from 1862.[2] In Yorkshire dialect gammle meant to toss a coin in gambling, and in southern Nottinghamshire gamble meant to deceive or play a trick on someone.[13]

Timeline

  • 1726 – gambling, playing for high stakes.[7][5]
  • 1747 – gambler.[7]
  • 1753 – to strip someone of money by gambling.[2]
  • 1757 – to play games of chance for money.[2][10]
  • 1764 – to lose or squander by gambling.[2]
  • 1785 – noun, a bout of gambling.[2]
  • 1802 – to take reckless risks.[2]
  • 1823 – noun, a risky venture.[2][5]
  • 1883 – noun, a bet.[2]
  • 1919 – to take a chance that something will turn out as hoped.[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To play games of chance for money or other stakes; to bet on the outcome of a race, match or other event.
  2. To risk money or something else of value on an uncertain result: They gambled their savings on the new shop.
  3. To take a risk in the hope of success, often with on: The organisers gambled on a dry weekend.
  4. To lose money or property by gambling, usually gamble away; to squander.

Noun

  1. A risky act, venture or course of action undertaken in the hope of success.
  2. A wager or bet; a spell of gambling.

Word family

  • gambler
  • outgamble
  • overgamble

Usage notes

A separate word gamble, a variant of gambrel, has meant the hock of a horse since 1703, and a butcher's frame for hanging carcasses, also called a gamble stick, since 1831.[2][14] It is now regional and rare.[2] Dictionary.com lists gamble and gambol among words that are easily confused.[15]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  9. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  11. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  12. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  13. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  14. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  15. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House