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gummy

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Etymology and origin of the English word gummy

Pronunciation

gummy1 sticky, like gum

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1398 before 1398, Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus
Ultimate origin
Latin gummi

Etymology

The word meaning sticky is formed from Middle English gomme + -y, from gum in the sense of resin, Middle English gomme or gumme.[2][3][4][5] The noun gum came through Old French gome from Late Latin gumma, a variant of Latin gummi.[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of the nature of gum; sticky, viscid: before 1398, in John Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus, where gommy renders Latin gummosum.[3][5] Etymonline dates the word to the late 14th century.[4]

Semantic evolution

From about 1420 the word also described plants that abound in gum, as in the Middle English Palladius on Husbondrie;[3][5] from 1580 it was said of eyes that ooze a sticky matter.[3] Johnson (1755) defined it as consisting of gum or of the nature of gum.[7] From 1740 it was said of ankles and legs that look swollen, as if lumpy with gum, first in a book on horses;[3] Green's Dictionary of Slang takes this sense as originally dialect and of unknown further origin,[8] and Wright found it in dialects from Durham to Hampshire, of thick or swollen ankles.[9] A derogatory use of varying meaning appears from 1907.[3] The noun gummy, a chewable sweet, usually of gelatin and fruit-flavoured, is recorded from 1922, made from the adjective.[3]

Timeline

  • before 1398 – like gum; sticky, viscid.[3][5]
  • c. 1420 – abounding in gum.[3][5]
  • 1580 – of the eyes, oozing a gummy matter.[3]
  • 1640 – soiled, dirty (obsolete by 1720).[3]
  • 1740 – of the ankles and legs, puffy, swollen.[3][8]
  • 1922 – noun, a chewy gelatin sweet.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Viscous and sticky: The rain turned the track into gummy clay.[2][3]
  2. Made of, containing or producing gum.[2][3]
  3. Covered with gum or a gumlike substance.[2][3]
  4. Of the ankles or legs, thick or swollen.[3][8][9]

Noun

  1. A chewy gelatin sweet, often fruit-flavoured, now also one containing vitamins or medicine.[3]

Word family

  • gumminess
  • gummily
  • gummy bear

gummy2 toothless, showing the gums

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1893
Ultimate origin
Old English gōma
Etymology tree of gummy2
inherited borrowed derived
English gum
English gummy

Etymology

The word meaning toothless is formed from English gum + -y, from gum in the sense of the flesh of the jaws,[3][2][10] which is from Old English gōma (“palate, jaw”).[6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a noun, the Australian name of a small shark of the Pacific, Mustelus antarcticus, in full gummy shark: 1893, in Funk's Standard Dictionary.[3][10]

Semantic evolution

The adjective "toothless" is first recorded in 1906, in the Australian writer Edward Dyson.[3] Green's Dictionary of Slang finds the noun for a toothless person or animal from 1908 in Perth, and in Ireland a gummy was a person whose mouth was all gums.[8] In Australia and New Zealand a gummy is also a sheep that has lost or is losing its teeth, from 1910.[3][10][8] Merriam-Webster Unabridged also has the adjective for a smile that shows the gums.[2]

Timeline

  • 1893 – noun, the gummy shark of Australia.[3]
  • 1906 – toothless.[3]
  • 1908 – noun, a toothless person or animal.[8]
  • 1910 – noun, a sheep that has lost its teeth.[3][8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Toothless: a gummy old man.[2][3]
  2. Showing the gums: a wide gummy grin.[2]

Noun

  1. (Australia) A small shark of southern Australian and New Zealand waters, fished for food; the gummy shark.[3][10][2]
  2. (Australia, New Zealand) A sheep that has lost or is losing its teeth.[3][10]

Usage notes

A third adjective gummy, from gumma, a syphilitic tumour, means the same as gummatous in medicine; the OED records it from 1861.[3][10] In slang, gummy has also meant a fool or hanger-on (from 1839) and, in the United States, dubious or untrustworthy (from 1915).[8]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ 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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ 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)
  6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  9. ^ a b 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)
  10. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press

Related etymologies

  • turf · also from Old English
  • cedar · also from Old English
  • behold · also from Old English
  • chop · also from Old English
  • seventy · also from Old English
  • herd · also from Old English
  • lick · also from Old English
  • flint · also from Old English
Cite this entry

“Gummy.” Etymologically, 8 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/gummy. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

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