Etymology

gnast

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Today it means: A spark; a dying or dead spark, as of a snuffed candle. Full definition →

Middle English gnast ← Old English *gnāst ← Proto-Germanic *gahnaistô
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gnast · noun1

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*hnaistô“spark”
  2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*ga-
  3. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*gahnaistô“spark”
  4. Old English · inherited from*gnāst“spark”
  5. Middle English · inherited fromgnast
  6. English todaygnast

From Middle English gnast, knast, from Old English *gnāst (“spark”) (attested in fȳrgnāst (“spark of fire”)), from Proto-Germanic *gahnaistô (“spark”), from Proto-Germanic *ga- + Proto-Germanic *hnaistô (“spark”), perhaps from the ultimate (imitative) source of German knistern (“to crackle”). Cognate with German dialectal Ganster (“spark”), Danish gnist (“spark, sparkle”), Swedish gnista (“spark”), Icelandic gneisti, neisti (“spark”), German Gneis (“spark, gneiss”) (whence English gneiss).

gnast · verb2

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*gʰneydh-
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*gnaistijaną
  3. Old English · inherited from*gnǣstan
  4. Middle English · inherited fromgnasten
  5. English todaygnast

From Middle English gnasten, gnaisten, from Old English *gnǣstan, from Proto-Germanic *gnaistijaną, causative of *gnīstijaną (“to grind”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰneydh-, *gʰneyd- (“to gnaw, scratch, rub”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian knasterje (“to gnash”), German Low German gnatschen (“to knead, gnash”), German knastern (“to gnash”), Icelandic gnesta (“to crack”).

Words from the same roots

Proto-Germanic*ga- all →

gainshapegloveyearninga-geburi-

Middle Englishgnasten all →

gnash

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.