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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

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English

give

/ˈɡɪv/
To transfer one's possession or holding of (something) to (someone).

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    Origin

    From Middle English given, yeven, yiven, ȝiven, from merger of Old English ġefan, ġeofan, ġiefan, ġifan, ġiofan, ġyfan (“to give”) and Old Norse gefa (“to give”), from Proto-Germanic *gebaną (“to give”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰebʰ- (“to give; to take”). Displaced yive, from Middle English yiven, of the same origin, from influence of Old Norse gefa.

    Cognates

    Cognate with Yola gee, ye, yie, yive (“to give”), Scots gie (“to give”), North Frisian gjiuwe, iiv, jiiw, jiw, jeewe (“to give”), West Frisian jaan (“to give”), Alemannic German gë (“to give”), Bavarian gebn (“to give”), Central Franconian jevve (“to give”), Cimbrian gem, ghèban (“to give”), Dutch geven (“to give”), German geben (“to give”), Luxembourgish ginn (“to give”), Vilamovian gaon (“to give”), Yiddish געבן (gebn, “to give”), Danish give (“to give”), Elfdalian djävå (“to give”), Faroese geva (“to give”), Icelandic gefa (“to give”), Norwegian Bokmål gi (“to give”), Norwegian Nynorsk gi, giva, gje, gjeva, gjeve (“to give”), Swedish ge, gifva, giva (“to give”), Gothic 𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 (giban, “to give”); also Greek κεφάλι (kefáli), κεφαλή (kefalí, “head”), Lithuanian gobti (“cover up; to grab, snatch”), Polish gabać (“to touch; to tap; to accost”), Serbo-Croatian ха̏бати, hȁbati (“to abrade, wear out”), Sanskrit गभस्ति (gabhasti, “shining”).

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • rootProto-Indo-European*gʰebʰ- “to give; to take”
    • inheritedMiddle Englishgiven
      • derivedOld Englishġefan
        • derivedOld Norsegefa “to give”
          • derivedProto-Germanic*gebaną “to give”
          • derivedMiddle Englishyiven
            • inheritedOld Englishġiefan
              • inheritedProto-West Germanic*geban

    Related: Yola gee, Scots gie, North Frisian gjiuwe, West Frisian jaan, Alemannic German gë, Bavarian gebn, Central Franconian jevve, Cimbrian gem, Dutch geven, German geben, Luxembourgish ginn, Vilamovian gaon, Yiddish געבן, Danish give, Elfdalian djävå, Faroese geva, Icelandic gefa, Norwegian Bokmål gi, Norwegian Nynorsk gi, Swedish ge, Gothic 𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽, Greek κεφάλι, Lithuanian gobti, Polish gabać

    Words built on it: given, give off, give a shit

    Meanings

    verb
    1. To transfer one's possession or holding of (something) to (someone).
    2. To make a present or gift of.
    3. To pledge.
    4. To provide (something) to (someone), to allow or afford.
    5. To cause (a sensation or feeling) to exist in (the specified person, or the target, audience, etc.).
    6. To give off (a certain vibe or appearance). (Compare giving.)
    noun
    1. The amount of bending that something undergoes when a force is applied to it; a tendency to yield under pressure; resilience.

    Sources

    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Wiktionary: give