Etymologically
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gaze

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English gasen, also gazen and gace,[2][3] probably of Scandinavian origin,[4][5][6][3][7] and the MED takes it as borrowed from Old Norse.[2] The evidence is Swedish gasa (“to gape, stare”) in Swedish dialects,[8][6][5] and Norwegian dialect gasa in the same sense.[9][10][11] Merriam-Webster also compares Norwegian dialect gase (“fool”) and perhaps Old Norse gassi (“reckless person”), and so relates the word to goose.[3] The OED calls it of unknown origin, possibly from the same root as the obsolete verb gaw with an -s- suffix,[8] a link the Shorter Oxford, the Oxford Dictionary of English and Hoad also suggest;[12][13][14] Etymonline and Ayto connect that verb with Old Norse gá (“heed”) and with gawk.[9][7] Partridge compares gape.[11] The noun is formed from the verb.[8][12] Gazebo is probably a humorous mock-Latin formation from it, as if "I shall gaze".[7][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

To stare or look about curiously: about 1386, in Chaucer's Clerk's Tale, where the people gaze up and down, glad of the novelty of a new lady.[8][2] Barnhart and the MED date the poem about 1395.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Ayto notes that the earliest sense was "gawp, stare", only gradually overtaken by the politer "look intently".[7] The OED likewise describes the early use as looking vacantly or curiously about, or staring in astonishment, and the modern one as looking fixedly or intently.[8] In Middle English it could also mean figuratively to fix one's attention on something or think of it with longing.[2] The construction with at, on or upon is recorded from 1553,[8] and a transitive use, to stare at, from 1591 in poetry.[8] The noun first meant something gazed at, a spectacle (1542–1797),[8][5] a sense the Shorter Oxford says survived in dialect,[12] and the English Dialect Dictionary records it in Fife, comparing Macbeth's "the show and gaze o' the time".[15] The sense of a long, steady look is recorded from 1566.[8][5] The phrase at gaze (1578) was first used of a deer standing still in surprise,[8][16] and is now chiefly a term of heraldry.[8] A gazehound (1560s) was a dog that followed its prey by sight rather than scent.[9] Since 1973 the noun has also been used in theory for a way of regarding people, which the OED compares with Lacan's French regard.[8] Johnson (1755) defined the noun as an intent regard, a look of eagerness or wonder.[17]

Timeline

  • c. 1386 – to stare, look about curiously, in Chaucer.[8]
  • 1542 – noun, something gazed at (obsolete after 1797).[8][5]
  • 1553 – gaze at, on, upon.[8]
  • 1560s – gazehound, a dog that hunts by sight.[9]
  • 1566 – noun, a steady or intent look.[8][5]
  • 1578 – at gaze, of a deer.[8]
  • 1591 – transitive, to stare at (poetic).[8]
  • 1973 – a way of regarding people, in theory.[8]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To look steadily and for a long time, often in wonder or admiration: They gazed at the night sky for an hour.
  2. (poetic or archaic) To look fixedly at something.

Noun

  1. A steady, intent look: She held his gaze without blinking.
  2. (heraldry) at gaze: of a deer or other beast of the chase, shown with its face turned to the front.
  3. In critical and film theory, a way of regarding people.
  4. (archaic) Something gazed at; a spectacle.

Word family

  • gazer
  • gazeless
  • gazingly
  • outgaze
  • stargaze
  • gazehound

Usage notes

Dictionary.com distinguishes three near-synonyms: to gaze is to look steadily and intently, especially at something that arouses admiration or interest; to stare is to look with wide-open eyes, from surprise, alarm or rudeness; and to gape suggests open-mouthed and rather ignorant wonder.[10]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  11. ^ a b c Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
  12. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  13. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  14. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  15. ^ 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)
  16. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  17. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.