quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- gap (n.)
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[gap 词源字典] - early 14c., "an opening in a wall or hedge; a break, a breach," mid-13c. in place names, from Old Norse gap "chasm, empty space," related to gapa "to gape, open the mouth wide," common Proto-Germanic (cognates: Middle Dutch, Dutch gapen, German gaffen "to gape, stare," Swedish gapa, Danish gabe), from PIE *ghai- "to yawn, gape" (see yawn (v.)). From late 14c. as "a break or opening between mountains;" broader sense "unfilled space or interval, any hiatus or interruption" is from c. 1600. In U.S., common in place names in reference to a deep break or pass in a long mountain chain (especially one that water flows through), a feature in the middle Appalachians.[gap etymology, gap origin, 英语词源]
- gap (v.)
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- 1847, "to make gaps" (transitive); 1948 "to have gaps" (intransitive), from gap (n.). Related: Gapped; gapping.