Etymology

gainsaw

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Today it means: Gainsaying; contradiction. Full definition →

Middle English gainsawe
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The story

  1. Middle English · inherited fromgainsawe
  2. English todaygainsaw

From Middle English gainsawe, ȝeinsawe, equivalent to gain- + saw (“a saying”). Compare gainsay.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.