Etymology

gasp

G2A1S1P3

Today it means: To draw in the breath suddenly, as if from a shock. Full definition →

Middle English gaspen ← Old Norse geispa
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gasp · verb, noun, interjection1

  1. Old Norse · derived fromgeispa“to yawn”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromgaspen
  3. English todaygasp

From Middle English gaspen, gayspen (“to gape, outbreathe”), related to and likely derived from Old Norse geispa (“to yawn”) or its descendant Danish gispe, which may be related to gapa (“to gape”).

GASP · adjective2

Coined by Larry Sanger in 2025.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.