gain English · revision 2870

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1200|origins=frk *waidanjan}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɡeɪn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The noun is [[inh|enm|gayne]],^(MWU 2024) [[bor|frm|gain]], from Old French gaaigne “gain, profit; booty; arable land”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|fro|gaaignier|t=to earn, gain; to cultivate land]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from [[m|frk|*waidanjan|t=to hunt, forage, pasture]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*waiþanjaną|alt=*waithanjan]] “to hunt, plunder”.^(Etymonline) It is cognate with Old High German weida “pasture” and weidenōn “to hunt”, Old English wāþ “hunting” and Old Norse veiðr “hunt”,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[ine-pro|*weie-|t=to go after, pursue]].^(Etymonline) The earliest noun was partly from Old Norse.^(Etymonline) The verb is from French gagner, Old French gaaignier.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Advantage, benefit, help: about 1200.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Booty or prey is from 1473,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and ''gainage'', profit from farming, is before 1393, in Gower.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Reward, profit, what has been acquired, is from about 1300,^(Etymonline) and increase of possessions from 1496–7.^(OED 1989) The French word joined the ideas of profit from farming and of booty.^(Etymonline) ''Gains'', sums acquired by trade, is from 1546.^(OED 1989) The verb meant “to obtain as profit” from the 1520s,^(Etymonline) “to obtain by effort” from the 1540s^(Etymonline) and “to make a profit” from the 1570s.^(Etymonline) ''Gain ground'' (1620s) was at first military, of land taken from an enemy.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) “To arrive at” is from about 1600,^(Etymonline) ''gain on'', “to get nearer”, from 1719,^(Etymonline) and of clocks, “to run fast”, by 1861.^(Etymonline) Any increase, as in weight, is by 1851,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and in electronics an increase in power from 1922.^(OED 1989) ''No pain, no gain'' is recorded from the mid-19th century, and became an exercise slogan in the 1990s.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1200 – advantage, benefit.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – profit, reward.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1473 – booty.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1520s – verb, to obtain as profit.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1620s – ''gain ground''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1719 – ''gain on''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1851 – an increase in amount.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1922 – in electronics.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To get possession of; to [[acquire]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To win or achieve through effort.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To get an increase of: ''gain weight''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To reach: ''gain the summit''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To get closer to someone ahead: ''gaining on them''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Of a clock, to run fast.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # Something gained; a [[profit]] or [[advantage]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An increase in amount or degree.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(electronics)'' An increase in power or signal strength.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[gainer]]

+ * [[gainable]]

+ * [[outgain]]

+ * [[ungained]]

+ * [[gainful]]

+ * [[gainless]]

+ * [[gainly]]

+ * [[brain gain]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[again]]

+ * [[regain]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Scottish and northern English dialect ''gain'' is also an adjective, “near, direct, convenient”, from Old Norse gegn, the source of [[again]].^(Wright 1898)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}