gate English · revision 4969

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 700|origins=gem-pro *gatą}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɡeɪt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|gate]], yate, [[inh|ang|ġeat|alt=geat, gæt|t=gate, door, opening, passage]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*gatą|alt=*gatan]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the source also of Old Norse gat “opening, passage”, Old Saxon gat “eye of a needle” and Dutch gat “hole, breach”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Etymonline calls its origin unknown,^(Etymonline) while Barnhart and MWU relate it to Greek chézein and Sanskrit hadati “to defecate”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) The modern form with g comes from the Old English plural gatu; the singular would have given yate, which survives in northern dialects.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An opening in a wall made for entrance and exit, or the barrier closing it: about 700 in Barnhart, 778 in the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In biblical language ''the gate'' stood for the city itself (about 825), and the gates of heaven and hell are from about 1000.^(OED 1989) A mountain pass is from 1601.^(OED 1989) Money taken from people paying to watch a sports event, short for ''gate money'' (1820), is from 1896.^(Etymonline) ''Get the gate'', to be dismissed, is from 1918.^(OED 1989) A ''gate-crasher'' was an uninvited party guest from 1926.^(Etymonline) A ''gated community'' is recorded by 1989.^(Etymonline) After the Watergate scandal, -gate became a suffix for scandals from 1973.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 700 – a gate, an opening.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1601 – a mountain pass.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1896 – money from spectators.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1926 – ''gate-crasher''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1973 – -gate, a scandal.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A barrier like a [[door]] that closes an opening in a wall or [[fence]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An opening or entrance, especially a large one into a town or building.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The place at an [[airport]] where passengers get on a plane.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The number of people who pay to watch a sports event, or the money they pay.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(British)'' To keep a student in college as a punishment.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[gater]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gateway]]

+ * [[gait]]

+ * [[yate]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A different gate, “way, road, street”, from Old Norse gata, survives in northern street-names such as those of York and in dialect, as in ''gang one's gate'', go one's way.^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}