1. The seventh letter and 
fifth consonant in the Eng- 
lish alphabet. It is a sign of 
Italic origin, having been fabri- 
cated by the Romans by a slight 
modification of C, when the dis- 
tinction of the (hard)#-sound from 
the ft-soiiiid, both until then rep- 
resented alike by c, was found ad- 
visable and was effected. (See 
C.) G has in English two principal or normal sounds, 
usually called " hard g" and " soft g" respectively. The 
former is the value originally belonging to the sign. The 
"hard" <7-sound is the sonant (or voiced, or intonated) 
correlative of the Ar-sound, made by a close contact be- 
tween the upper surface of the back part of the tongue 
and the adjacent palate, while breath enough to set the 
vocal chords vibrating is, during the continuance of the 
contact, forced up into the pharynx the breach of this 
contact, as in the case of the other so-called mutes (or 
stops, or checks), giving the alphabetic element. The ft- 
and ^/-sounds are most often called the guttural mutes ; 
although (since the guttur proper has nothing to do with 
their formation) many authorities prefer to call them pal- 
atal, or back-palatal. The " soft" sound of g in English is 
compound ( = j = dzh), the sonant correlative of the ch- 
sound(seecA); it is, like the soft c-sound in relation to hard 
c, a product of the alteration of the hard g, the point of 
contact being shifted forward on the tongue, and a spirant 
or sibilant vanish being added to the mute element. It 
belongs mainly to the Romance part of the language. It 
never occurs at the beginning of words of Anglo-Saxon 
origin (where ft is always hard or has changed to i/); and 
but rarely at the end of such words (before "silent" e, as 
in hinge, singe, swinge). Except in snch instances, g, in 
words of Germanic origin, is hard also before e and i. 
The principal digraphs containing ff are yh and ng. The 
former is written instead of the earlier guttural spirant 
h (as night for earlier niht), and is either silent (as in 
night)m pronounced as /(as in laugh). With the digraph 
no is written the nasal which corresponds to g and k in 
the same manner as n to A and t, or m to b and p, and 
which (for example, in singing) is just as much a simple 
sound as n or in. This guttural or palatal nasal is not an 
independent alphabetic clement in any such way as is n 
or m ; in the older stages of the languages of our family, 
it appears only before a next following g or k, as a nasal 
made guttural by assimilation to them ; and the combi- 
nation ng representing it is simply one in which the y, 
formerly pronounced, has become silent, like the 6 of mb 
in lamb, climb, tomb, etc. G is now silent before n in the 
same syllable, as in gnaiv, sign. For g as the original of 
consonant y, see y. 
2. As a medieval Roman numeral, 400, and with 
a line over it, G, 400,000. 3. In the calendar, 
the seventh dominical letter. 4. In music: (a) 
The key-note of the major key of one sharp, 
having the signature shown at 1, or of the mi- 
nor key of two flats, having the signature shown 
at 2; also, in medieval music, the final of the 
Mixolydian mode. (6) In the fixed system of 
solmization, the fifth tone of the scale, and 
called sol : hence so named by French musi- 
cians, (c) On the keyboard of the pianoforte, 
the white key next to the left of the middle of 
each group of three black keys, (d) The tone 
given by such a key, or a tone in unison with 
such a tone, (e) The degree of a staff assigned 
to such a key or tone ; with the treble clef, the 
second line or the first added space above, as at 
3. (/) A note on such a degree, indicating such 
a key or tone, as at 4. 5. In physics, a symbol 
for acceleration of gravity, which is about 9.8 
meters (or 32 feet) per second. 6. In chem., a 
symbol f or glucinunt: now rarely used, Gl being 
substituted for it G clef. See clef. 
ga*t, v. i- An earlier form of go. 
ga 2 , . See f/au. 
ga 3 (ga). A dialectal preterit of go. See gie 1 . 
Ga. 1. In cltem., the symbol for gallium. 2. 
An abbreviation of Georgia, one of the United 
States. 
gab 1 (gab), v. ; pret. and pp. gabbed, ppr. gab- 
bing. [< ME. gabben, talk idly, jest, lie in jest, 
lie (the alleged AS. *gabban", in Somner, is a 
myth), < Icel. gabba, mock, make game of one ; 
cf. OFries. gabbia, accuse, prosecute, NFries. 
gobbien, laugh, gabben, jest, sport (Richthofen). 
153 
The Rom. forms, OF. gaber = Pr. gabar = It. 
gabbare, mock, deride, deceive, cheat, = Pg. 
gabar, praise, refl. boast, are also of Scand. ori- 
gin. Hence gab 1 , n., gabble, freq., and ult. gib- 
ber &nd jabber: see these words, and cf . gab&, n. 
There is no proof of the supposed ult. Celtic 
origin (Ir. cab, gab, gob, the mouth, etc. : see 
gab 2 , gob).] I. intrans. If. To jest; lie in jest; 
speak with exaggeration ; lie. 
Thairc goddis will not gab, that grauntid horn first 
The cite to sese, as horn selfe lyked. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 10604. 
I lye not, or gabbe not. Wyclif, Gal. i. 20 (Oxf.). 
Soth to sigge [sooth to say], and 1103! to gab. 
Early Eng. Poems, p. 6. 
2. To talk idly; talk much; chatter; prate. 
[Now only colloq.] 
I nam no labbe, 
Ne, though I seye, I am not lief to gabbe. 
Chaucer, Miller's Tale. 
Thou art one of the knights of France, who hold it for 
glee and pastime to gab, as they term it, of exploits that 
are beyond human power. Scott, Talisman, ii. 
Il.t trans. To speak or tell falsely. 
My sonne, and sithen that thou wilt 
That I shall axe, gabbe nought, 
But tell, etc. dower, Conf. Amant., ii. 
ffull trewe seide thei that tolde me ther was not soche 
a-nother knyght in the worlde, fforhe ne gabbed no worde. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 532. 
gab 1 (gab), n. [< ME. gabbe, idle talk, lying ; cf. 
Icel. gabb = Sw. gabb, mocking, mockery (OF. 
gab, etc. : see gab 5 ) ; from the verb. Cf. gab 2 .] 
Idle talk; chatter; loquacity. [Colloq.] 
Some unco blate [shy], and some wi' gabs 
Gar lasses' hearts gang startin' 
Whiles fast at night. Burns, Hallowe'en. 
Gift Of gab, or of the gab, a talent for talking ; fluency : 
used in jest or in obloquy. 
I always knew you had the gift of the gab, of course, but 
I never believed you were half the man you are. 
Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, xxvii. 
gab 2 (gab), n. [Sc. , = North. E. gob, the mouth : 
see gob.] The mouth. 
Ye take mair in your gab than your cheeks can had 
[hold]. Bamsatfs Scottish Proverbs, p. 86. 
gab 3 t (gab), v. i. [Appar. < gab 2 , the mouth; 
or a var. of gag or gap, assimilated to gab 2 .] 
To project like a tusk. 
Of teeth there be three sorts : for either they be framed 
like sawes, or else set flat, even and level], or last of all 
stand gabbing out of the mouth. 
Holland, tr. of Pliny, xi. 25. 
gab* (gab), n. [Origin obscure.] A hook or 
crook; specifically, the hook on an eccentric- 
rod which engages the wrist on the rock-shaft 
lever of a valve-motion. E. H. Knight. 
gab 5 t (gab), n. [OF., also gap, gaab, m., also 
gabe, f., = Pr. gab = It. gabbo, a jest, joke, mock, 
mockery, = Pg. gabo, praise (ult. identical with 
gab 1 , n., q. v.) ; from the verb: see under gab 1 , 
v.~\ A jest; joke; mock; a piece of pleasantry. 
On no account perhaps is it [the " Ballad of King Arthur"] 
more remarkable than the fact of its close imitation of 
the famous gabs made by Charlemagne and his compan- 
ions at the court of King Hngon, which are first met with 
in a romance of the twelfth century. ... It is to be pre- 
sumed that the author of the ballad borrowed from the 
printed work, substituting Arthur for Charlemagne, Ga- 
wayne for Oliver, Tristram for Roland, etc., and embel- 
lishing his story by converting King Hugon's spy into a 
" lodly feend," by whose agency the gabs are accomplished. 
Child's Ballads, I. 231, App. 
gabaraget (gab'a-raj), . [Perhaps connected 
with gabardine (?).] Coarse packing-cloth: a 
term formerly used for the wrappers in which 
Irish goods were packed. 
gabardine, gaberdine (gab-ar-den', -er-den'), 
n. [= It. gavardina, formerly also cavardina = 
OF. galvardine, < Sp. gabardina, a gabardine ; 
appar. extended from Sp. gabdn, a great-coat 
with hood and close sleeves, = OF. gaban = It. 
gabanio, a shepherd's cloak, dim. gabanella, a 
gabardine, etc. ; perhaps connected with Sp. 
cabaza, a large cloak with hood and sleeves, 
cabana, a cabin, hut, etc.: see cabas, cabin, 
cape 1 , capouch, capuchin 2 , etc.] A long loose 
2423 
cloak or frock, generally coarse, with or with- 
out sleeves and a hood, formerly worn by com- 
mon men out of doors, and distinctively by 
Jews when their mode of dress was regulated 
by law ; hence, any similar outer garment worn 
at the present day, especially in Eastern coun- 
tries. 
You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog, 
And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine, 
And all for use of that which is mine own. 
Shak., M. of V., i. :). 
The storm is come again ; my best way is to creep under 
his gaberdine. Shak., Tempest, ii. 2. 
Under your gabardine wear pistols all. 
Suckling, The Goblins. 
Here was a Tangier merchant in sky-blue gaberdine, 
with a Persian shawl twisted around his waist. 
T. B. Aldrich, Ponkapog to Pesth, p. 203. 
gabatat (gab'a-ta), n. [< L. gabata, a kind of 
dish or platter; ML. as in def.] Eccles., a ves- 
sel suspended in a church, probably to hold a 
light. See basin, 5. 
gabbard, gabbart (gab'ard, -art), n. [Formerly 
also gabard, gabart, gabcrt; < F. gabare = It. 
gabarra, a lighter, a store-ship; hence dim. F. 
gabarot,Mii.gabarotus. Cf. gabata.] A kind of 
heavy-built vessel, barge, or lighter, intended 
especially for inland navigation: as, a coal- 
gabbard. [Obsolete or dialectal.] 
Carumusalini be vessels like vnto y French Gabards, 
sailing dayly vpon the riuer of Bordeaux, which saile wt 
a misen or triangle saile. Hakluyt'x Voyages, II. 122. 
Little gabbards with coals and groceries, &c., come up 
here from Bristol. 
Dr. T. Campbell, Diary (1775), quoted in N. and Q., 
[7th ser., IV. 149. 
I swung and bobbit yonder as safe as a gabbart that's 
moored by a three-ply cable at the Broomielaw. 
Scott, Rob Roy, xxxi. 
gabbatha (gab'a-tha), n. [Heb., platform.] 
The place where Pilate sat at Christ's trial, it 
appears to have been a tessellated pavement outside the 
pretorium or judgment-hall, on which the tribunal was 
placed, from which the governor pronounced final sen- 
tence. 
When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought 
Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place 
that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. 
John xix. 13. 
gabbett v. and n. A Middle English form of 
gab 1 . 
gabber 1 (gab'er), . [< ME. gabbere, a liar, 
deceiver; < gab 1 + -er 1 .] 1. One who gabs, 
prates, talks idly, or lies. 
He is a japer and a gabber, and no verray [true] re- 
pentant, that eftsoone doth thyng for which hym oughte 
to repente. 
Chaucer, Parson's Tale. 
Drouthie fu' aft the gabber spits, 
Wi' scaddit heart [throat fretted by much talking). 
Tarras, Poems, p. 136. 
2. A person skilful in the art of burlesque. 
Franklin, Autobiog. (ed. 1819), p. 57. 
gabber 2 (gab'er), v. i. and t. [Cf. D. gabberen, 
gabble ; a var. of gabble, freq. of gab 1 . Cf. equiv. 
jabber.] To gabble. [Prov. Eng. and Scotch.] 
gabbingt, [ME. gabbynge; verbal n. of gab 1 , 
v.] Idle talk; prating; lying; deceit. 
His wepne was al wiles to wynnen and to hyden ; 
With glosynges and with gabbi/nges he gyled the peple. 
Piers Plowman (B), xx. 124. 
Certis nay, 
Such gabbyngit may me nojht he-gyle. 
York Plays, p. 157. 
Be ye right syker, when this chelde shalbe borne, I shall 
well knowe yef ye have made eny gabbynge, and I have 
very trust in God, that yef it be as ye have seide, ye shall 
not be deed ther-fore. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), i. 13. 
gabble (gab'l), v. ; pret. and pp. gabbled, ppr. 
gabbling. [Like gabber 2 (= D. gabberen), gab- 
ble, freq. of gabl. Cf. the assibilated forms 
jabble and jabber, and cf. gibber.] I. intrans. 
1 . To talk noisily and rapidly ; speak incohe- 
rently or without sense ; prate ; jabber. 
Such a rout, and snch a rabble, 
Run to hear Jack Pudding gabble. Swift. 
Upon my coming near them, six or eight of them sur- 
rounded me on horseback, and began to gabble in their own 
language. Bruce, Source of the Nile, I. 195. 
