Etymologically
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gather

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 05:41. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈɡæðə/ (UK); /ˈɡæðɚ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English gaderen, inherited from Old English gadrian (“to unite, assemble, collect”),[2][3][4][5] from Proto-West Germanic *gadurōn, from the base of together,[4][6] cognate with Old Frisian gaderia, Dutch gaderen and Middle High German gatern (“to unite”), and related to Old English gæd (“fellowship”) and gada (“companion”);[2][3] Etymonline and Barnhart also connect it with good.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To come together, assemble, collect: probably about 750, in The Phoenix and Andreas, in Barnhart.[2] Old English used it of flowers, thoughts and persons.[3]

Semantic evolution

To infer or conclude, as in I gather you're leaving, is from the 16th century.[4] To draw cloth into folds by a thread is also gather, and the noun, a fold or pucker in cloth, is from the 1660s.[3][7] To gather speed or momentum and to gather one's thoughts follow.[8][9] Gather, together, father and weather were spelled with -d- until the 16th century; the change to -th- reflects a change in pronunciation in most dialects.[2][3]

Timeline

  • c. 750 – to assemble, collect.[2]
  • 16th century – to infer.[4]
  • 16th century – -d- becomes -th-.[2]
  • 1660s – a fold in cloth.[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To come or bring together; to assemble.
  2. To collect gradually: gather information.
  3. To pick or harvest crops, flowers or fruit.
  4. To understand or conclude from what one has heard.
  5. To increase gradually: gather speed.
  6. To draw cloth into small folds by pulling a thread.

Noun

  1. A small fold or pucker in cloth.

Word family

  • gatherer
  • gatherable
  • forgather
  • ingather
  • omnium-gatherum
  • regather
  • together
  • upgather
  • gathering
  • good

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins