Etymology

gain-

Today it means: Prefix meaning "against", "contrary to", "in opposition to", "counter-". Full definition →

Middle English gain- ← Old English geġn- ← Proto-West Germanic *gagin
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*gagin“towards, against”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*gagin
  3. Old English · inherited fromgeġn-
  4. Middle English · inherited fromgain-
  5. English todaygain-

From Middle English gain- (prefix), from Old English geġn-, gēan- (“back, against, in return”, prefix), from Proto-West Germanic *gagin, from Proto-Germanic *gagin (“towards, against”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian juun- (“counter-”), West Frisian tsjin- (“counter-”), Dutch tegen- (“counter-”), German gegen- (“against, toward, at”), Icelandic gagn- (“through”). More at again.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.