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Origin and history of gyro

gyro(n.)

sandwich made from roasted lamb, 1971, originally in reference to the meat itself, as roasted on a rotating spit, from Modern Greek gyros "a circle" (see gyre (n.)). Mistaken in English for a plural and shorn of its -s.

also from 1971

Entries linking to gyro

gyre(n.)

1560s, "a circular motion," from Latin gyrus "circle, circular course, round, ring," from Greek gyros "a circle, ring," related to gyrós "rounded," perhaps from PIE root *geu- "to bend, curve" (source also of Armenian kor "crooked," Lithuanian gurnas "hip, ankle, bone," Norwegian kaure "a curly lock of hair"). The noun is attested in Middle English only in reference to ship's tackle (early 15c.).

hero(n.2)

1955, the New York City term for a sandwich elsewhere called submarine, grinder, poor boy (New Orleans), or hoagie (Philadelphia); origin unknown, perhaps so called for its great size (from hero (n.1)), or a folk-etymology alteration of Greek gyro as a type of sandwich.

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    Trends of gyro

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

    More to explore

    sandwich
    1762, said to be a reference to John Montagu (1718-1792), 4th Earl of Sandwich, who was said to be an inveterate gambler who ate slices of cold meat between bread at the gaming table during marathon sessions rather than rising for a proper meal (this account of the origin dates t
    cosmos
    c. 1200, "the universe, the world" (but not popular until 1848, when it was taken as the English equivalent to Humboldt's Kosmos in translations from German), from Latinized form of Greek kosmos "order, good order, orderly arrangement," a word with several main senses rooted in t
    deadline
    "time limit," 1920, American English newspaper jargon, from dead (adj.) + line (n.). Perhaps influenced by earlier use (1864) to mean the "do-not-cross" line in Civil War prisons, which figured in the trial of Henry Wirz, commander of the notorious Confederate prison at Andersonv
    source
    mid-14c., "support, base," from Old French sourse "a rising, beginning, fountainhead of a river or stream" (12c.), fem. noun taken from past participle of sourdre "to rise, spring up," from Latin surgere "to rise, arise, get up, mount up, ascend; attack," a contraction of surrige
    sabotage
    1907 (from 1903 as a French word in English), "malicious damaging or destruction of an employer's property by workmen," from French sabotage, from saboter "to sabotage, bungle," literally "walk noisily," from sabot "wooden shoe" (see sabaton). In English, "malicious mischief" wo
    angel
    "one of a class of spiritual beings, attendants and messengers of God," a c. 1300 fusion of Old English engel (with hard -g-) and Old French angele. Both are from Late Latin angelus, from Greek angelos, literally "messenger, envoy, one that announces," in the New Testament "divin
    communism
    1843, "social system based on collective ownership," from French communisme (c. 1840), from commun (Old French comun "common, general, free, open, public;" see common (adj.)) + -isme (see -ism). Originally a theory of society. As the name of a political or economic  theory w
    qualitative
    early 15c., qualitatif, "that produces a (physical) quality," from Medieval Latin qualitativus "relating to quality," from stem of Latin qualitas "a quality, property, nature" (see quality). Meaning "concerned with quality, relating to the possession of qualities without referenc
    touch
    late 13c., "make deliberate physical contact with," from Old French tochier "to touch, hit, knock; mention, deal with" (11c., Modern French toucher), from Vulgar Latin *toccare "to knock, strike" as a bell (source also of Spanish tocar, Italian toccare), perhaps of imitative orig
    laconic
    "concise, abrupt," 1580s, literally "of or pertaining to the region around ancient Sparta" in Greece, probably via Latin Laconicus "of Laconia," from Greek Lakonikos "Laconian, of Laconia," adjective from Lakon "person from Lakonia," the district around Sparta in southern Greece

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