Etymology

gimbal

G2I1M3B3A1L1

Today it means: A device for suspending something, such as a ship's compass, so that it will remain level when its support is tipped. Full definition →

Old French gemel ← Latin gemellus
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Latin · derived fromgemellus
  2. Old French · derived fromgemel
  3. English todaygimbal

Alteration of gemel, from Old French gemel, jumel (“twin”) (French jumeau), from Latin gemellus.

Words from the same roots

Old Frenchgemel all →

gemeljimmer

Latingemellus all →

gemeljimmer

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.