Etymologically
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gasp

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ɡɑːsp/, /ɡæsp/[1]
  • US: /ɡæsp/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English gaspen, also gaispen,[2][3][4] probably borrowed from Old Norse geispa (“to yawn, gape”).[3][5][6][7][8][2] The OED takes it from early Scandinavian, comparing Norwegian Nynorsk geispa (“to yawn”), Norwegian gjespe, Old Swedish gespa (“to yawn, gape”) and Swedish gäspa (“to yawn, gape, gasp”),[8] and Barnhart adds Danish gispe (“to gasp”).[9] Both note a difficulty: the English spelling gasp is fixed from the first records, and the OED finds the predominance of the form without a diphthong surprising.[10][8] The Scandinavian verb is probably a derivative, with an s-suffix and metathesis, of the base of Old Norse geipa (“to talk idly”), so from an older *geipsa;[8][7][6][4] a variant of the same base appears in Old English gipian (“to gape”) and gipung (“open mouth”).[8][7] The OED suggests that it may ultimately share an Indo-European base with Latin hiō (“to gape”), the source of hiatus.[8] Merriam-Webster relates it more loosely to yawn,[11] Etymonline to gape and gap,[12] and Skeat compares Dutch gijpen (“to gasp”).[13] Dictionary.com instead posits an unrecorded Old English verb beside the Norse one.[14]

Earliest recorded meaning

To open the mouth wide, to gape, and also to breathe out: before 1393, in Gower's Confessio Amantis, where a woman "gaspeth with a drecchinge onde".[2][8][10]

Semantic evolution

The verb soon came to mean drawing or letting out breath convulsively, from distress, effort or surprise,[8] and since 1522, in Gavin Douglas's Virgil, it could take an object, such as the air breathed.[8] To gasp for something, to crave it, is recorded from 1553,[8] and the literal gasp for breath from 1697, in Dryden.[8] The noun appears before 1529, in Skelton's Magnyfycence,[8] or in the 1570s according to Etymonline,[12] and its earliest common use was in the phrase last gasp, the final breath before death, recorded from 1564;[8][12] Johnson (1755) quoted Shakespeare's Cymbeline for "at last gasp".[15] To gasp up the ghost, to die, was used from 1577 to 1884, or from the 1530s according to Etymonline.[8][12] From before 1616 the verb could also mean to utter something breathlessly.[8] In British colloquial use to be gasping is to be very thirsty or to crave a cigarette (1958),[8] and since 1968 gasp! has been written to express mock shock.[8][11] In Ireland and Bedfordshire dialect the verb meant "to yawn".[16] Gasper was army slang for a cigarette,[4] and in British slang a gasp is a cigarette or a drink of spirits.[17]

Timeline

  • before 1393 – to open the mouth wide, gape; to breathe out, in Gower.[8][2][10]
  • before 1522 – transitive, to breathe something in or out with a gasp.[8]
  • before 1529 – noun, a convulsive catch of breath.[8]
  • 1553 – gasp for, to crave.[8]
  • 1564 – last gasp, the final breath.[8]
  • 1577 – gasp up the ghost, to die (obsolete by 1884).[8]
  • before 1616 – to utter with a gasp.[8]
  • 1697 – gasp for breath.[8]
  • 1958 – British colloquial to be gasping, to be very thirsty.[8]
  • 1968 – interjection, expressing mock shock.[8][11]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To draw in breath suddenly and audibly, as from shock, pain or surprise: The audience gasped when the bridge collapsed.[18][11][8]
  2. To breathe with difficulty; to pant.[11][8]
  3. To say something breathlessly: “Get the doctor,” he gasped.[18][8]
  4. gasp for: to long for or crave something.[18][8]
  5. be gasping (British, informal): to be very thirsty, or in need of a cigarette.[8]

Noun

  1. A short, sudden intake of breath: a gasp of horror.[18][11][8]
  2. A short burst of speech uttered breathlessly.[18][11]
  3. at the last gasp: at the point of death, or at the last possible moment.[18][8]

Interjection

  1. Used in writing to express pretended shock or surprise.[11][8]

Word family

  • gaspingly

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  4. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  10. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  12. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  13. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  14. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  15. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  16. ^ 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)
  17. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  18. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins