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Origin and history of gee

gee(interj.)

exclamation of surprise, 1895, probably euphemistic for Jesus. Form gee whiz is attested from 1871; gee whillikens (1851) seems to be the oldest form. As a command to a horse to go, 1620s, Scottish. It had a particular sense as a teamster's command: "go to the right (or off) side of the driver." Extended form gee-up is from 1733, the second element said by OED to be hup.

also from 1895

Entries linking to gee

giddy-up(interj.)

command to a horse to go, 1909, probably an extended form of earlier giddap (1867), itself probably from get up. Compare gee.

The terms used to start horses in harness and to urge them to a better appreciation of the value of time comprise vulgar corruptions of ordinary speech and peculiar inarticulate sounds. Throughout England and the United States drivers start their horses by picking up the reins, drawing them gently against the animals' mouths, and exclaiming go 'long and get up; the latter appears in the forms get ap ( a as in hat), giddap, and gee-hup or gee-up. [H. Carrington Bolton, "Talking to Domestic Animals," in The American Anthropologist, March 1897]
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    Trends of gee

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

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    G
    seventh letter of the alphabet, invented by the Romans; a modified gamma introduced c. 250 B.C.E. to restore a dedicated symbol for the "g" sound. For fuller history, see C. Before the vowels -e-, -i-, and -y-, Old English initial g- changed its sound and is represented in Modern
    clipper
    The nautical sense was perhaps originally simply "fast ship," regardless of type: Well, you know, the Go-along-Gee was one...
    cry
    mid-13c., "yell (something) out, utter" (transitive); c. 1300, "beg, implore; speak earnestly and loudly; advertise by calling out," from Old French crier, from Vulgar Latin *critare, from Latin quiritare "to wail, shriek" (source of Italian gridare, Old Spanish cridar, Spanish a
    exclaim
    "to cry out, speak with vehemence, make a loud outcry in words," 1560s, a back-formation from exclamation or else from French exclamer (16c.), from Latin exclamare "cry out loud, call out," from ex "out," perhaps here an intensive prefix (see ex-), + clamare "cry, shout, call" (f
    runt
    c. 1500, "old or decayed tree stump" (Douglas), a provincial word of unknown origin. The meaning was extended to "small ox or cow," especially of the breeds characteristic of Wales and the Scottish Highlands (1540s, if indeed this is the same word), and by 1610s generally to unde
    turn
    late Old English turnian "to rotate, revolve," in part also from Old French torner "to turn away or around; draw aside, cause to turn; change, transform; turn on a lathe" (Modern French tourner), both from Latin tornare "to polish, round off, fashion, turn on a lathe," from tornu
    shout
    c. 1300, shouten, schowten "to call or cry out loudly," a word of unknown origin; perhaps from the root of shoot (v.) on the notion of "throw the voice out loudly," or related to Old Norse skuta "a taunt" (compare scout (v.2)); both of which are reconstructed to be from PIE root
    south
    Old English suþ "southward, to or toward the south, southern, in the south," from Proto-Germanic *sunthaz, perhaps literally "sun-side" (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian suth "southward, in the south," Middle Dutch suut, Dutch zuid, German Süden), and related to base of *sun
    debate
    late 14c., "to quarrel, dispute," also "to combat, fight, make war" (senses now archaic), also "discuss, deliberate upon the pros and cons of," from Old French debatre (13c., Modern French débattre), originally "to fight," from de- "down, completely" (see de-) + batre "to beat,"
    priest
    Middle English prēst, "cleric ranking below a bishop and above a deacon, a parish priest," from Old English preost, which probably was shortened from the older Germanic form represented by Old Saxon and Old High German prestar, Old Frisian prestere, all from Vulgar Latin *prester

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