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Origin and history of gorge

gorge(n.)

mid-14c., "throat," from Old French gorge "throat; a narrow passage" (12c.), from Late Latin gurges "gullet, throat, jaws," also "gulf, whirlpool," which probably is related to Latin gurgulio "gullet, windpipe," from a reduplicated form of PIE root *gwora- "food, devouring." Transferred sense of "deep, narrow valley" was in Old French. From 1520s as "what has been swallowed," hence in figurative phrases indicating nauseating disgust.

gorge(v.)

c. 1300, "eat greedily, swallow by gulps," from Old French gorgier "to swallow" (13c.), from gorge "throat" (see gorge (n.)). Transitive sense from late 15c. Related: Gorged; gorging.

also from c. 1300

Entries linking to gorge

disgorge(v.)

"eject or throw out from, or as if from, the stomach or throat; vomit forth, discharge," late 15c. (Caxton), from Old French desgorgier "to disgorge, pour out," from des- (see dis-) + gorge "throat" (see gorge (n.)). Related: Disgorged; disgorging; disgorgement.

engorge(v.)

1510s, "fill to excess," from French engorger "to obstruct, block, congest," Old French engorgier "to swallow, devour," from en- (see en- (1)) + gorge "throat" (see gorge (n.)). Probably originally in reference to hawks. Related: Engorged; engorging.

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Trends of gorge

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

More to explore

gorgeous
c. 1500, "splendid, showy, sumptuously adorned" (of clothing), from French gorgias "elegant, fashionable," a word of unknown origin; perhaps a special use of gorgias "necklace" (and thus "fond of or resembling jewelry"), from Old French gorge "throat," also "something adorning th
defile
c. 1400, "to desecrate, profane;" mid-15c., "to make foul or dirty," also "to rape, deflower," alteration of earlier defoulen, from Old French defouler "trample down, violate," also "ill-treat, dishonor," from de- "down" (see de-) + foler "to tread," from Latin fullo "person who
stuff
early 14c., stuffe, "quilted material worn under chain mail," from Old French estoffe "quilted material, furniture, provisions" (Modern French étoffe), from estoffer "to equip or stock," which is of obscure origin; according to French sources it is from Old High German stopfon "t
canyon
narrow valley between cliffs," 1834, from Mexican Spanish cañon, extended sense of Spanish cañon "a pipe, tube; deep hollow, gorge...
dale
level or gently sloping ground between low hills with a stream flowing through it, Old English dæl "vale, valley, gorge,"...
cling
participle clungen), from Proto-Germanic *klingg- (source also of Danish klynge "to cluster;" Old High German klinga "narrow gorge...
glebe
Possible cognates include Old English clamm "a tie, fetter;" Old High German klamma "trap, gorge;" Old Irish glomar "gag,...
ravine
1760, "long deep gorge worn by a stream or torrent of water," from French ravin "a gully" (1680s, from Old French raviner "to pillage; to sweep down, cascade"), and from French ravine "violent rush of water, gully worn by a torrent" (from Old French ravine "violent rush of water,
begin
Old English beginnan "to attempt, undertake," a rare word beside the more usual form onginnan (class III strong verb; past tense ongann, past participle ongunnen); from be- + West Germanic *ginnan, which is of obscure etymology and found only in compounds, perhaps "to open, open
binge
1854, "drinking bout," also (v.) "drink heavily, soak up alcohol;" dialectal use of binge "soak" (a wooden vessel). Said to have been originally as a dialect word. Binge is noted in Evans' "Leicestershire Words, Phrases and Proverbs" (London, 1848) as a dialect verb for "To soak

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Dictionary entries near gorge
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