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Etymology and origin of the English word gee

Pronunciation

gee1 command to a horse

Confidence
Unknown
First attested
1628 J. Earle, ''Micro-cosmography''

Etymology

The command to a horse is of unknown origin.[2][3][4][5] The OED considers it probably imitative, and compares jee and the earlier call ree.[6] Etymonline describes it as Scottish at first.[7] The extended form gee up is recorded from 1733; the OED takes its second element to be hup.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A word of command to a horse, used in different places to make it turn right, go forward or go faster: 1628, in J. Earle's Micro-cosmography.[6] Etymonline also dates it to the 1620s,[7] and the Shorter Oxford to the early 17th century.[3]

Semantic evolution

What the call asked of the animal varied from place to place: Johnson (1755) explains it as a waggoners' word for making horses go faster,[8] while in teamsters' use it came to mean "go to the right", away from the driver.[7][2] Bartlett's Americanisms (1848) gives both uses, faster for horses and oxen, and to the right for oxen;[9] DARE records gee mostly for a right turn in American English, paired with haw for a left one, and less often for turning left, going faster, stopping or backing up.[9] In American square dancing it is also a call to move to the right.[2] From the interjection came a verb, to direct a horse by calling gee (1845), and in Australia (1898) to urge on or encourage, especially to coax the public into a fair's side-shows; the phrasal verb gee up now means to encourage a person to greater effort.[6][3][10] The noun gee, a horse, was first a child's word (1887), like the reduplicated gee-gee.[6][3][11] An older slang verb gee, to fit, suit or get on well, used only in negative phrases such as "it won't gee" and recorded from 1685, may come from the same call, though the OED calls its origin doubtful.[6][3][12]

Timeline

  • 1628 – command to a horse to turn, go on or go faster.[6][2]
  • 1685 – gee, to agree or get on well (only in negative phrases), possibly from the command.[6]
  • 1733 – gee-up.[7]
  • 1845 – to direct a horse by calling gee.[6]
  • 1887 – gee, a horse, first a child's word.[6]
  • 1898 – to urge on or encourage, in Australia of drawing customers to side-shows.[6]

Meanings

Interjection

  1. A command to a draft animal to turn to the right, or to go on or go faster: “Gee!” shouted the driver, and the team swung right.[2][10][6]
  2. gee up: a call to a horse to start moving or go faster.[10][4]

Verb

  1. Of a horse or team, to turn to the right in answer to the command.[13][2]
  2. To call gee to a draft animal.[2][6]
  3. gee up (chiefly British, informal): to urge a horse on; to encourage a person to work harder or show more enthusiasm.[10][4][3]

Noun

  1. (informal, chiefly British) A horse.[2][3][12]

Word family

  • gee-gee
  • gee up
  • agee

gee2 exclamation of surprise

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Clipping
First attested
1851 Mayne Reid, ''The Scalp Hunters''

Etymology

The exclamation is probably a euphemistic shortening of Jesus,[7][6][2][14][4] perhaps partly through its euphemistic alterations Jerusalem and Jehoshaphat, used as exclamations.[6] The Shorter Oxford and the Concise Oxford call the link with Jesus only possible.[3][4] It is related to jeez, gee whiz and gee willikers.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

An expression of surprise, enthusiasm or exasperation, or used for emphasis: 1851, in Mayne Reid's The Scalp Hunters, the earliest uses being mostly in longer forms.[6][3]

Semantic evolution

The word is American in origin.[3][5] According to Etymonline the longer forms came first: gee whillikens is found in 1851 and gee whiz in 1871, while the bare gee is recorded from 1895;[7] Merriam-Webster dates it to 1884,[2] and Dictionary.com to 1890–95.[5] It also expresses sarcasm and sympathy.[13][4]

Timeline

  • 1851 – exclamation of surprise or enthusiasm, at first mostly in longer forms such as gee whillikens.[6][7]
  • 1871 – gee whiz.[7]
  • 1884 – first known use of gee in Merriam-Webster.[2]
  • 1895 – gee alone, according to Etymonline.[7]

Meanings

Interjection

  1. (informal, chiefly North American) An exclamation of surprise, enthusiasm, sympathy or exasperation, or a word added for emphasis: Gee, that's a lot of snow.[4][2][6]

Word family

  • gee whiz
  • gee willikers
  • haw
  • jee
  • Jesus
  • jeez

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ a b Cassidy, Frederic G. & Joan Houston Hall (eds.) (1985–2002), Dictionary of American Regional English, vols I–IV, Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
  10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  11. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  12. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  13. ^ a b The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers
  14. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Cite this entry

“Gee.” Etymologically, 26 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/gee. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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