gang English · revision 4824

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 825|origins=gem-pro *gangaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɡæŋ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ang|gang|t=a going, journey, way]], reinforced by [[non|gangr|t=a going; a group of men]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) both from [[gem-pro|*gangaz]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Old Saxon, Old High German and Dutch gang and Gothic gagg are related.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) It is perhaps from [[ine-pro|*ghengh-|t=to step]], the source of Lithuanian žengiu “I stride” and Sanskrit jáṅghā “shank”;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline does not relate it to [[go]], while Hoad and the Shorter Oxford link it to the Germanic base of go.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Steps, goings, journeys, in Old English only (about 825 in the OED);^(OED 1989) a journey from about 950,^(OED 1989) and a way or passage in Middle English (1199 in Barnhart).^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The modern senses probably came by way of “a set of things used together in going”, especially a set of tools (the mid-14th century in Etymonline, about 1340 in Barnhart).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) By the 1620s sailors used it for a company of workmen, a ship's crew,^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) and by the 1630s, with disapproval, for any band of people going about together, then a criminal band.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) A gang of slaves on a plantation is from 1724 in American English,^(Etymonline) and a gang of delinquent city boys by 1855.^(Etymonline) The verb, to arrange in a gang, is from 1856,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and ''gang up (on)'' from 1919 in Etymonline, 1925 in the OED.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The old “going” sense survives in [[gangway]] and gangplank.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 825 – steps, goings.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1340 – a set of things.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1620s – a ship's crew, a company of workmen.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1630s – a band of people.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1724 – a gang of slaves.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1855 – a street gang of boys.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1856 – verb, to form into a gang.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1896 – ''gangster''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A group of [[criminal]]s who work together.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A group of young people who spend time together, especially one that causes trouble.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An organized group of workers.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' A group of [[friend]]s.^(AHD)

+ # A set of similar tools or devices arranged to work together.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To form or act as a group; with ''up (on)'', to join together against someone.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To arrange or operate (tools or devices) as a set.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ganger]]

+ * [[gangling]]

+ * [[gangrel]]

+ * [[gangplank]]

+ * [[gangway]]

+ * [[gang-rape]]

+ * [[gangboard]]

+ * [[gangland]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gangster]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Scots and northern dialect gang is a separate verb meaning “to go”, from Old English gangan,^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024) as in Burns's “gang aft a-gley”.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}