Etymology

gannet

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Today it means: Any of three species of large seabird in the genus Morus, of the family Sulidae. They have black and white bodies and long pointed wings, and hunt for fish by plunge diving and pursuing their prey underwater. Full definition →

Middle English ganet ← Old English ganot ← Proto-West Germanic *ganat
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*ganzô
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*ganatuz
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*ganat
  4. Old English · inherited fromganot
  5. Middle English · inherited fromganet
  6. English todaygannet

From Middle English ganet, gante, from Old English ganot, from Proto-West Germanic *ganat, *ganatō, from Proto-Germanic *ganatuz, *ganutô (“gander”), ultimately related to Proto-Germanic *ganzô. Cognates Cognate with Dutch gent, Middle Low German gante, German Ganter, Ganser, all “gander, male goose”.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Germanic*ganzô all →

gander

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.