goose English · revision 16138

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Old English, Riddle 24|origins=ine-pro *ǵʰh₂éns}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɡuːs/ ''(UK)''; /ɡus/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|goos]], [[inh|ang|gōs]] (plural [[m|ang|gēs]]),^(AHD 2024)^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*gans-]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026) cognate with [[ofs|gōs]], [[nl|gans]], [[goh|gans]], [[de|Gans]] and [[non|gás]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986) It goes back to [[ine-pro|*ǵʰh₂éns]], the source of [[la|ānser]], [[grc|χήν|tr=khḗn]], [[sa|हंस|tr=haṃsá|t=goose, swan]], [[lt|žąsìs]], [[ru|гусь|tr=gusʹ]] and [[sga|géis|t=swan]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)^(Ayto 2005) probably imitative of the bird's honking.^(Etymonline)^(Ayto 2005) The ''n'' was lost before ''s'' as in [[tooth]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and the plural ''[[geese]]'' shows [[i-mutation]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) A link with ''[[gander]]'' and ''[[gannet]]'' is possible but debated.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The bird: the OED's first example is from Old English ''Riddle 24'';^(OED 2026) Barnhart dates ''gōs'' to about 700.^(Barnhart 1988) The female goose specifically, as against the gander, is recorded from about 1220.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The bird's supposed stupidity gave the sense "simpleton, fool" in 1547,^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) and Johnson defined it as a large waterfowl "proverbially noted, I know not why, for foolishness".^(Johnson 1755)^(Etymonline) The flesh as food is from 1539,^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) and a tailor's smoothing-iron from 1606, with the plural ''gooses''.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) The goose's hiss gave theatre slang ''to get the goose'', to be hissed, from 1805.^(OED 2026)^(GDoS) The verb "to poke between the buttocks", from about 1880, is probably from a fancied likeness of an upturned thumb to a goose's neck,^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) and it also came to mean to feed fuel to an engine in spurts, and to spur on or boost.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Old English – the bird.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED)

+ * c. 1220 – the female bird.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1539 – the flesh as food.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED)

+ * 1547 – a foolish person.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED)

+ * 1597 – the board game of goose.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED)

+ * 1606 – a tailor's smoothing-iron.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED)

+ * c. 1880 – the verb, to poke from behind.^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large web-footed [[waterfowl]] of the family [[Anatidae]], bigger than a [[duck]], with a long neck; especially the female, the male being a [[gander]].^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # The flesh of this bird as food.^(AHD 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # ''(informal)'' A silly person.^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A tailor's [[smoothing iron]] (plural ''gooses'').^(AHD 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(slang)'' To poke someone between the [[buttocks]].^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024)

+ # ''(informal)'' To prod into action, or to increase the speed or output of.^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[gooselike]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gosling]]

+ * [[goshawk]]

+ * [[gossamer]]

+ * [[anserine]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}