gafl

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *gabla- (“top”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰobʰ-lo-, from the stem *ǵʰebʰ-l-. Cognate with Gothic 𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌻𐌰 (gibla, “pinnacle”), Old High German gebal, Middle High German gebel, Tocharian A śpāl (“head”), and Ancient Greek κεφᾰλή (kephalḗ, “head”).

Noun

gafl m (genitive gafls, plural gaflar)

1. gable
2. gable end

Descendants

• Icelandic: gafl
• Faroese: galvur
• Norn: gabel, gevel
• Norwegian Bokmål: gavl
• Swedish: gavel
• Danish: gavl
• → Old French: gable
  • → Middle English: *gable
    • English: gable
  • French: gâble

References

• de Vries, Jan (1977) Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Old Norse Etymological Dictionary] (in German), 2nd revised edition, Leiden: Brill, page 152
• Kroonen, Guus (2013) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN