gift English · revision 3094

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1250|origins=ine-pro *ghabh-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɡɪft/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|gift]],^(MWU 2024) [[bor|non|gift|t=gift; good luck]], also written gipt,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*geftiz]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[m|gem-pro|*geb-|t=to give]],^(Etymonline) the base of [[give]],^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*ghabh-|t=to give or receive]].^(Etymonline) The Old English cognate [[m|ang|gift]] is recorded only as “payment for a wife, bride-price”, and did not last.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Other cognates are Old Saxon gift, Middle Dutch ghifte, Old High German gift and Gothic fragifts “espousal”, and German Gift and Dutch gif now mean “poison”, while German Mitgift is “dowry”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A thing given, a present: about 1250, in ''Genesis and Exodus'',^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) the mid-13th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) It is found in surnames, such as Witegift, by about 1100.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A natural talent, regarded as given by God, is from about 1300, perhaps from the earlier sense of a power miraculously bestowed (late 12th century), as in the biblical gift of tongues.^(Etymonline) The action of giving is from about 1300,^(OED 1989) and the legal transfer of property without payment from 1480.^(OED 1989) The proverb about not looking a gift horse in the mouth is in Heywood (1546) as “a given horse”,^(Etymonline) and goes back to a Latin version in St Jerome; the modern form may come from Butler's ''Hudibras'' (1663).^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline) The verb, “to endow with gifts”, is from the 16th century,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and “to give as a present” from 1619.^(OED 1989) An acronym GIFT (1984) names a fertility technique.^(OED 1989)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – in surnames.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1250 – a present.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – a natural talent.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1480 – a legal transfer of property.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1546 – “a given horse”.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1619 – verb, to give as a present.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1663 – “gift-horse”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Something given freely; a [[present]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The act or power of giving.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A natural [[talent]] or ability: ''a gift for music''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(informal)'' Something very easy to get or do.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To give as a present.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To [[endow]] with.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[giftee]]

+ * [[giftless]]

+ * [[foregift]]

+ * [[giftware]]

+ * [[gift-wrap]]

+ * [[gift-wrapping]]

+ * [[gift certificate]]

+ * [[gift of gab]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[giftable]]

+ * [[give]]

+ * [[gifted]]

+ * [[poison]]

+ * [[dose]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The verb ''gift'' has a long history, and the American Heritage panel notes that it can avoid the ambiguity of ''give'', which may mean only a physical handing over; many still object to it as an unnecessary substitute for ''give''.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}