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Origin and history of gaol

gaol(n.)

see jail (n.), you tea-sodden football hooligan. Formerly in official use in Britain, and thus sometimes regarded in U.S. as a characteristic British spelling (though George Washington used it); by the time of OED 2nd edition (1980s) both spellings were considered correct there; the g- spelling is said to have been dominant longest in Australia.

[T]he very anomalous pronunciation of g soft before other vowels than e, i, & y ... is a strong argument for writing jail [Fowler]

Entries linking to gaol

jail(n.)

c. 1300 (c. 1200 in surnames) "a jail, prison; a birdcage." The form in j- is from Middle English jaile, from Old French jaiole "a cage; a prison," from Medieval Latin gabiola "a cage," from Late Latin caveola, diminutive of Latin cavea "a cage, enclosure, stall, coop; a hollow place, a cavity" (see cave (n.)).

The form in g- was the more usual in Middle English manuscripts (gaile, also gaiole), from Old French gaiole "a cage; a prison," a variant spelling that seems to have been frequent in Old North French, which would have been the system familiar to Norman scribes. Now pronounced "jail" however it is spelled. Persistence of gaol (preferred in Britain) is "chiefly due to statutory and official tradition" [OED], and, probably, the fact that it is known the Americans spell it the other way.

In U.S. usually a place of confinement for petty offenders. The Medieval Latin word also is the source of Spanish gayola, Italian gabbiula.

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    Trends of gaol

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    lag
    "move slowly, fail to keep pace," 1520s, earlier as a noun meaning "last person" (1510s), later also as an adjective, "slow, tardy, coming behind" (1550s, as in lag-mon "last man"). All are of uncertain relationship and origin, possibly from a Scandinavian source (compare Norwegi
    jug
    "deep vessel for carrying liquids, usually with a handle or ear," late 15c., jugge, variant of jubbe (late 14c.), a word of unknown origin. Perhaps it is from jug "a low woman, a maidservant" (mid-16c.), a familiar alteration of Jug, a common personal name such as Joan or Judith.
    remand
    mid-15c., remaunden, "to send (something) back," from Anglo-French remaunder, Old French remander "send for again" (12c.) or directly from Late Latin remandare "to send back word, repeat a command," from Latin re- "back" (see re-) + mandare "to consign, order, commit to one's cha
    lock-up
    also lockup, "detention cell for offenders," 1838, perhaps short for earlier lock-up house; from the verbal phrase. Meaning "action of locking up" is from 1845. The verbal phrase lock (someone) up in a dwelling, prison, etc., is from early 15c. Of things, "to hold in safekeeping
    Bastille
    14th century Paris fortress later used as a prison and destroyed by revolutionaries on July 14, 1789, as a symbol of royal despotism; French, literally "fortress, gate tower" (see bastion). Many French cities kept their medieval gate-towers as prisons after other fortifications w
    detain
    early 15c. (implied in deteined), "keep back or away, withhold," from Old French detenir "to hold off, keep back" (12c.), from Latin detinere "hold off, keep back," from de "from, away" (see de-) + tenere "to hold" (from PIE root *ten- "to stretch"). Legal sense of "to hold in cu
    put
    Middle English putten, from late Old English *putian, "to thrust, push, shove" (someone or something; a sense now obsolete), also "to move or a thing physically so as to place it in some situation," implied in putung "instigation, an urging," literally "a putting;" related to pyt
    behind
    Old English behindan "at the back of, after," from bi "by" (see by) + hindan "from behind" (see hind (adj.)). The prepositional sense emerged in Old English. The figurative sense of "not so far advanced, not on equality with" is from c. 1200. The euphemistic noun meaning "backsid
    away
    Middle English awei, from late Old English aweg, earlier on weg "on from this (that) place;" see a- (1) + way (n.). The meaning "from one's own or accustomed place" is from c. 1300; that of "from one state or condition to another" is from mid-14c.; that of "from one's possession

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    Dictionary entries near gaol
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