goat

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɡəʊt/ (UK); /ɡoʊt/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English gote, inherited from Old English gāt (“she-goat”),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *gaitaz,^[2][3][4] source also of Dutch geit, German Geiß, Old Norse geit and Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌹𐍄𐍃 (gaits),^[3][2] from Proto-Indo-European *ghaid-o-, young goat, source also of Latin haedus (“kid”).^[3][2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A goat: before 700 in the OED, about 700 in Barnhart.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

In Old English gāt was the female; the male was a bucca (see buck).^[2][4][5] In the late 14th century the sexes began to be distinguished as he-goat and she-goat;^[2][3] nanny goat is from the 18th century and billy goat from the 19th.^[3] The sign Capricorn is from 1387.^[5] A licentious man is from the 1670s.^[3][6] To get someone's goat is American, by 1908, perhaps from stealing a goat kept as a mascot for a racehorse or unit.^[3] Goatee is from 1844–47,^[2][4] and goatskin from before 1387.^[2]

Timeline

• before 700 – a goat.^[5]
• 1387 – Capricorn.^[5]
• late 14th century – he-goat, she-goat.^[2]
• 1670s – a lecherous man.^[3]
• 1844 – goatee.^[2]
• 1908 – get someone's goat.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A hardy, horned, bearded ruminant mammal of the genus Capra, kept for milk, meat and wool.
2. (informal) A lecherous man.
3. A scapegoat.
4. (the Goat) The constellation or sign Capricorn.

Word family

• goatish
• goatlike

Related words

• goatee
• scapegoat
• kid
• caprine

Usage notes

In Devon dialect, to goat was to set up unbound sheaves of corn in a field.^[7]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ 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)