gear: [13] The etymological meaning of gear is roughly ‘that which puts one in a state of readiness’ – hence ‘equipment, apparatus’. Its ultimate source is prehistoric Indo-European *garw-, which also produced the now obsolete English adjective yare ‘ready’ and (via Germanic, Italian, and French) garh [16]. A derivative *garwīn- passed into Old Norse as gervi, which English borrowed as gear. The mechanical sense of the word developed in the 16th century. => garb[gear etymology, gear origin, 英语词源]