Etymology

gosling

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Today it means: A young goose. Full definition →

Middle English goslyng ← Old Norse gæsling
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gosling · noun1

  1. Old Norse · derived fromgæsling
  2. Middle English · inherited fromgoslyng“gosling”
  3. English todaygosling

From Late Middle English goslyng (“gosling”), alteration (due to Middle English goos (“goose”)) of earlier gesling (“gosling”), of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse gæsling, géslingr (“gosling”), from gás (“goose”) + -lingr (“-ling”), equivalent to goose + -ling. Cognate with Danish gæsling (“gosling”), Swedish gässling (“gosling”). Compare also Low German gossel, gössel (“gosling”), German Gänslein (“gosling”).

Gosling · proper noun2

  1. Old Norse · derived fromgæslingr
  2. Middle English · derived fromgosling“young goose”
  3. English todayGosling

* As an English surname, spelling variant of Joslin. * Also as an English surname, from Middle English gosling (“young goose”), partly borrowed from Old Norse gæslingr; equivalent to modern goose + -ling. * As a German surname, from a personal name based on gut (“good”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.