Etymologically
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gap

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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
  • 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