The story
- Middle English · inherited fromgaynsetten
- English todaygainset
From Middle English gaynsetten, yensetten (also aȝeynesetten (“to oppose”)), equivalent to gain- + set. Cognate with archaic German gegensetzen (“to oppose”) (whence entgegensetzen), German Gegensatz (“opposition”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.