The story
- Proto-Celtic · derived from*gablā“fork”
- Gaulish · derived fromgabalos
- Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*gabulu
- Old English · inherited fromġeafel
- Middle English · inherited fromyevel
- English todayyelve
A metathesis of *yevel, from Middle English yevel, from Old English ġeafel, variant of gafol, from Proto-West Germanic *gabulu, from Gaulish gabalos, gablos, from Proto-Celtic *gablā (“fork”).
Words from the same roots
Proto-West Germanic*gabulu all →
gaffle
Proto-Celtic*gablā all →
javelin
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.