gap

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɡæp/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English gap, gappe, borrowed from Old Norse gap (“chasm, empty space”),^[2][3][4] related to gapa “to gape”,^[2][5] the source of gape.^[3][4] The Germanic verb is from Proto-Indo-European *ghieh- (“to yawn, be wide open”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

An opening in a wall or hedge, a breach: the early 14th century in Etymonline and before 1325 in Barnhart,^[2][3] about 1380 in the OED;^[6] it appears in place-names from the mid-13th century (Grenehougap, 1261).^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

A break between mountains, a pass, is from the late 14th century (1555 in the OED),^[2][6] and in the United States it is common in place-names for a deep pass, especially in the middle Appalachians.^[2] A breach in defences is from 1548, and to stand in the gap, to defend, from 1535.^[6] The broader sense, an unfilled space or interval, is from about 1600.^[2] The verb, to notch, is from 1847, and to make a gap from 1893.^[3][6]

Timeline

• 1261 – in place-names.^[3]
• c. 1380 – a breach in a wall or hedge.^[6]
• 1535 – stand in the gap.^[6]
• 1555 – a mountain pass.^[6]
• c. 1600 – an interval, a hiatus.^[2]
• 1847 – verb, to notch.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A space or opening between two things.
2. A period of time when something stops; a break.
3. A difference between two things or groups: the gap between rich and poor.
4. A pass through mountains.

Word family

• gappy
• gapless

Related words

• gape

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press