gæslingr

Forms

gæslingr m, a-stem^[1][2]

Etymology

It is a diminutive formed from Old Norse gás (“goose”) + -lingr.^[3][4][2] gás continues Proto-Germanic *gans (“goose”).^[5] The mainland languages have the same formation, dialectal Swedish gäsling and Danish gæsling, and Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon compares Low German gossel “young goose”.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first dated as a byname, of a priest in a Norwegian diploma of 1224: Sira J. geslengr.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

The word means a young goose, but most of its old records are bynames: the priest of 1224, and Ívarr gæslingr in Sverris saga.^[2][8][6] ONP's records come from charters and the kings' sagas.^[6]

It survives as Icelandic gæslingur.^[4] English took it over: de Vries derives Middle English and dialect gesling from it, and the MED takes Middle English gosling from Old Norse, reshaped after gōs “goose”;^[3][9][10] Etymonline dates the English word to the mid-14th century, with surnames from the late 13th.^[3][9][10]

Timeline

• 1224 – geslengr, a priest's byname, in a Norwegian diploma.^[6][7]
• 1300 – Jvaʀ gæslingr in Sverris saga.^[6]
• Mid-14th century – English gosling.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. a gosling, young goose.^[2][8]
2. a byname.^[8][4]

Descendants

• Icelandic gæslingur^[6]
• Middle English gosling^[9]
• English gosling^[10]

References

1. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. gæslingr
2. ^ a b c d Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 223
3. ^ a b c d de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 197
4. ^ a b c d Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. gæslingur
5. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
6. ^ a b c d e f Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. gæslingr
7. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. DN 1:7
8. ^ a b c Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. gæslingr
9. ^ a b c 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)
10. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com