gad

See also: Gad, GAD, and gàd

English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɡæd/
- Audio (UK) (file)
Rhymes: -æd

Etymology 1

Euphemistic alteration of God.

Interjection

gad

An exclamation roughly equivalent to by God, goodness gracious, for goodness' sake.
- 1905, Edith Wharton, chapter 13, in The House of Mirth:
  That's the trouble — it was too easy for you — you got reckless — thought you could turn me inside out, and chuck me in the gutter like an empty purse. But, by gad, that ain't playing fair: that's dodging the rules of the game.

Derived terms

egads
egad

Etymology 2

From Middle English gadden (“to hurry, to rush about”).

Verb

gad (third-person singular simple present gads, present participle gadding, simple past and past participle gadded)

(intransitive) To move from one location to another in an apparently random and frivolous manner.
Synonym: gallivant
- 1852, Alice Cary, Clovernook ....
  This, I suppose, is the virgin who abideth still in the house with you. She is not given, I hope, to gadding overmuch, nor to vain and foolish decorations of her person with ear-rings and finger-rings, and crisping-pins: for such are unprofitable, yea, abominable.
- 1903, Howard Pyle, The Story of King Arthur and His Knights, Part III, Chapter Fourth, page 123
  So when he saw King Arthur he said: "Thou knave! Wherefore didst thou quit thy work to go a-gadding?"
- 1888–1891, Herman Melville, “[Billy Budd, Foretopman.] Chapter 19.”, in Billy Budd and Other Stories, London: John Lehmann, published 1951, OCLC 639975898:
  But there is no telling the sacrament, seldom if in any case revealed to the gadding world, wherever under circumstances at all akin to those here attempted to be set forth, two of great Nature's nobler order embrace.
- 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XIII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, OCLC 1227855:
  If you are on the board of governors of a school and have contracted to supply an orator for the great day of the year, you can be forgiven for feeling a trifle jumpy when you learn that the silver-tongued one has gadded off to the metropolis, leaving no word as to when he will be returning, if ever.

Derived terms

gadabout
gaddish, gaddishness

Translations

to move about at random with seemingly little purpose

Bulgarian: скитам се (skitam se), шляя се (šljaja se)
Galician: vagar (gl)
Georgian: ხეტიალი (ka) (xeṭiali), წანწალი (c̣anc̣ali)
Maori: kaihanu, tihoi
Russian: слоня́ться (ru) (slonjátʹsja), шля́ться (ru) (šljátʹsja)
Ukrainian: вештатися (veštatysja), тинятися (tynjatysja), шлятися (šljatysja), швендяти (švendjaty)

Noun

gad (plural gads)

One who roams about idly; a gadabout.

Etymology 3

From Middle English gade (“a fool, simpleton, rascal, scoundrel; bastard”), from Old English gada (“fellow, companion, comrade, associate”), from Proto-West Germanic *gadō, from Proto-Germanic *gadô, *gagadô (“companion, associate”), related to Proto-West Germanic *gaduling (“kinsman”). Cognate with Dutch gade (“spouse”), German Gatte (“male spouse, husband”). See also gadling.

Alternative forms

ged, gade

Noun

gad (plural gads)

(Northern England, Scotland, derogatory) A greedy and/or stupid person.
- 1913, George Gordon, The Auld Clay Biggin
  Ye greedy ged, ye have taken the very breath out o' me.
Get over here, ye good-for-nothing gadǃ

References

The Dictionary of the Scots Language

Etymology 4

From Middle English gad, gadde, borrowed from Old Norse gaddr (“goad, spike”), from Proto-Germanic *gazdaz (“spike, rod, stake”).

Noun

gad (plural gads)

(especially UK, US, dialect) A goad, a sharp-pointed rod for driving cattle, horses, etc, or one with a whip or thong on the end for the same purpose.
Hyponym: goad
- 1684, Meriton, Praise Ale, l. 100, in 1851, James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps, The Yorkshire Anthology: A Collection of Ancient and Modern Ballads, Poems and Songs, Relating to the County of Yorkshire, page 71:
  Ist yoakes and bowes and gad and yoaksticks there?
- c. 1844, Prairie Farmer:
  Does your cow kick? Do not fly into a passion and pound her with a handspike, or trim her with a gad or a cow-hide.
- 1885, Detroit Free Press., December 17
  Twain finds his voice after a short search for it and when he impels it forward it is a good, strong, steady voice in harness until the driver becomes absent-minded, when it stops to rest, and then the gad must be used to drive it on again.
- 1888, "Robin Spraggon's Auld Grey Mare", in The Monthly Chronicle of North-country Lore and Legend, page 171:
  Our thrifty dame, Mally, she rises soon at morn, She goes and tells the master I'm pulling up the corn; He clicks up the oxen gad and sair belabours me, For I'm Robin Spraggon's auld grey mare, ae how he's guided me!
- 1908, Folklore Society (Great Britain), Publications, page 288:
  On the morning of Palm-Sunday, the gamekeeper, some servant on the estate, brings with him a large gad or whip, with a long thong; the stock is made of the mountain ash, […]
(UK, US, dialect) A rod or stick, such as a fishing rod or a measuring rod.
- 1836, A Collection of Right Merrie Garlands for North Country Anglers, page 4:
  And we'll prepare our limber gads,
  Lang lines, and braw brass wheels;
- 1876, Armstrong, Wanny Blossoms, p. 33:
  Seek out thy tackle, thy creel and thy gad.
- 1879, William Henderson, Folklore Society (Great Britain), Notes on the Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders:
  Woe to the lad / without a rowen-tree gad.
- 1896, Proudlock, Borderland Muse, p. 268:
  We'll splice oor gads nigh Barra Mill, Beneath yon auld birk tree.
(especially mining) A pointed metal tool for breaking or chiselling rock.
- c. 1588–1593, William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene i]:
  I will go get a leaf of brass, / And with a gad of steel will write these words.
- 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage 2007, p. 327:
  Frank was able to keep his eyes open long enough to check his bed with a miner's gad and douse the electric lamp
(obsolete) A metal bar.
- 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XV:
  they sette uppon hym and drew oute their swerdys to have slayne hym – but there wolde no swerde byghte on hym more than uppon a gadde of steele, for the Hyghe Lorde which he served, He hym preserved.
- 1683, Joseph Moxon, Mechanick Exercises
  Flemish steel […] some in bars and some in gads.
- 1836, Walter Scott, Guy Mannering, Or, The Astrologer: With the Author's Last Notes and Additions, page 372:
  When a man received sentence of death, he was put upon the gad as it was called, that is, secured to the bar of iron in the manner mentioned in the text. The practice subsisted in Edinburgh […]
(dated, metallurgy) An indeterminate measure of metal produced by a furnace, sometimes equivalent to a bloom weighing around 100 pounds.
- 1957, H.R. Schubert, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry, page 146.
  Twice a day a 'gad' of iron, i.e., a bloom weighing 1 cwt. was produced, which took from six to seven hours.
A spike on a gauntlet; a gadling.
Synonyms: gadling, spike
- 1840, Charles Henry Hartshorne, An Endeavor to Classify the Sepulchral Remains in Northamptonshire, Or, a Discourse on Funeral Monuments in that County: Delivered Before the Members of the Religious and Useful Knowledge Society, at Northampton, page 35:
  Sometimes we see the knuckles ornamented with gads or gadlings.
- 1842, Ecclesiological Society, Illustrations of Monumental Brasses ..., page 70:
  His gauntlets have embroidered cuffs; there are gads or gadlings on the fingers.
- 1858, Edward Cave, The Gentleman's Magazine: Or, Monthly Intelligencer: Volume the first [-fifth], for the year 1731 [-1735] ..., page 215:
  Another curious device was that of arming the knuckles of the gauntlets with spikes (gads or gadlings), by which they became weapons as well as defences.
- 1992, Sir Guy Francis Laking, A Record of European Armour and Arms Through Seven Centuries, page 214:
  On both finger joints are gads, which are beautifully faceted and brought to a point.

Derived terms

gadfly

Translations

A sharp-pointed object; a goad

Bulgarian: шип (bg) m (šip), острие (bg) n (ostrie)

Anagrams

DAG, GDA, dag

Afar

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈɡʌd/

Hyphenation: gad

Noun

gád m (plural gadoowá f or gaditté f or gadoodá f)

song
sung poetry

Declension

Declension of gád

absolutive

gád

predicative

gáda

subjective

gád

genitive

gaddí

Postpositioned forms
l-case	gádal
k-case	gádak
t-case	gádat
h-case	gádah

References

E. M. Parker; R. J. Hayward (1985), “gad”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN
Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015) L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)‎, Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis)

Danish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈɡ̊æˀð], [ˈɡ̊æðˀ]

Verb

gad

past tense of gide

Irish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɡad̪ˠ/

Etymology 1

From Old Irish gat, from Proto-Celtic *gazdo-, from late Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰasto- or *ǵʰasdʰo- (“branch ~ spear, sharp spine”), a root also connected to Proto-Germanic *gazdaz (“spike”), Latin hasta (“spear”).

Noun

gad m (genitive singular gaid, nominative plural gaid)

withe
string, rope, band
Obsolete spelling of goid
Obsolete spelling of cad

Declension

Declension of gad

First declension

Bare forms:

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	gad	gaid
Vocative	a ghaid	a ghada
Genitive	gaid	gad
Dative	gad	gaid

Forms with the definite article:

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	an gad	na gaid
Genitive	an ghaid	na ngad
Dative	leis an ngad don ghad	leis na gaid

Derived terms

gad bráid m (“scrofula”)
gad brollaigh (“breast-strap”)
gad tairr m (“bellyband, cinch”)
pionós an ghaid (“garrotte”)
ropaire gaid (“gallows-bird”)

Etymology 2

From Old Irish gataid (“takes away, removes, pulls or snatches away; takes away (something from someone), deprives of; of carrying off booty; takes away the expectation, hope of (something, an event); steals”).

Verb

gad (present analytic gadann, future analytic gadfaidh, verbal noun gad, past participle gadta)

(transitive, intransitive, literary) take away, remove; snatch, carry off
Alternative form of goid

Conjugation

First Conjugation (A)

		singular			plural			relative	autonomous
		first	second	third	first	second	third	relative	autonomous
indicative	present	gadaim	gadann tú; gadair^†	gadann sé, sí	gadaimid	gadann sibh	gadann siad; gadaid^†	a ghadann; a ghadas / a ngadann; a ngadas	gadtar
	past	ghad mé; ghadas	ghad tú; ghadais	ghad sé, sí	ghadamar; ghad muid	ghad sibh; ghadabhair	ghad siad; ghadadar	a ghad / ar ghad*	gadadh
	past habitual	ghadainn / ngadainn‡‡	ghadtá / ngadtá‡‡	ghadadh sé, sí / ngadadh sé, sí‡‡	ghadaimis; ghadadh muid / ngadaimis‡‡; ngadadh muid‡‡	ghadadh sibh / ngadadh sibh‡‡	ghadaidís; ghadadh siad / ngadaidís‡‡; ngadadh siad‡‡	a ghadadh / a ngadadh*	ghadtaí / ngadtaí‡‡
	future	gadfaidh mé; gadfad	gadfaidh tú; gadfair^†	gadfaidh sé, sí	gadfaimid; gadfaidh muid	gadfaidh sibh	gadfaidh siad; gadfaid^†	a ghadfaidh; a ghadfas / a ngadfaidh; a ngadfas	gadfar
conditional		ghadfainn / ngadfainn‡‡	ghadfá / ngadfá‡‡	ghadfadh sé, sí / ngadfadh sé, sí‡‡	ghadfaimis; ghadfadh muid / ngadfaimis‡‡; ngadfadh muid‡‡	ghadfadh sibh / ngadfadh sibh‡‡	ghadfaidís; ghadfadh siad / ngadfaidís‡‡; ngadfadh siad‡‡	a ghadfadh / a ngadfadh*	ghadfaí / ngadfaí‡‡
subjunctive	present	go ngada mé; go ngadad^†	go ngada tú; go ngadair^†	go ngada sé, sí	go ngadaimid; go ngada muid	go ngada sibh	go ngada siad; go ngadaid^†	—	go ngadtar
subjunctive	past	dá ngadainn	dá ngadtá	dá ngadadh sé, sí	dá ngadaimis; dá ngadadh muid	dá ngadadh sibh	dá ngadaidís; dá ngadadh siad	—	dá ngadtaí
imperative		gadaim	gad	gadadh sé, sí	gadaimis	gadaigí; gadaidh^†	gadaidís	—	gadtar
verbal noun		gad
past participle		gadta

* Indirect relative
† Archaic or dialect form
‡‡ Dependent form used with particles that trigger eclipsis

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
gad	ghad	ngad
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Lower Sorbian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *gadъ (“serpent”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɡat/

Noun

gad m

(archaic) venomous snake, viper, adder
poison, venom

Declension

Animate declension (‘venomous snake, viper, adder’):

Declension of gad

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	gad	gada	gady
Genitive	gada	gadowu	gadow
Dative	gadoju	gadoma	gadam
Accusative	gada	gadowu	gady, gadow
Instrumental	gadom	gadoma	gadami
Locative	gaźe	gadoma	gadach

Inanimate declension (‘poison, venom’):

Declension of gad

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	gad	gada	gady
Genitive	gada	gadowu	gadow
Dative	gadoju	gadoma	gadam
Accusative	gad	gada	gady
Instrumental	gadom	gadoma	gadami
Locative	gaźe	gadoma	gadach

Navajo

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /kàt/, [kàt], [kɣàt]

Noun

gad

juniper, cedar (especially Juniperus deppeana)

Polish

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *gadъ.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɡat/
Audio (file)
Rhymes: -at
Syllabification: gad

Noun

gad m anim

reptile (cold-blooded vertebrate of the class Reptilia)
(Cieszyn Silesia, Upper Silesia, Bukovina) snake (reptile of the suborder Serpentes)

Declension

Declension of gad

	singular	plural
nominative	gad	gady
genitive	gada	gadów
dative	gadowi	gadom
accusative	gada	gady
instrumental	gadem	gadami
locative	gadzie	gadach
vocative	gadzie	gady

Derived terms

adjective

gadzi

Noun

gad m pers

scoundrel (villain)

Declension

Declension of gad

	singular	plural
nominative	gad	gady
genitive	gada	gadów
dative	gadowi	gadom
accusative	gada	gadów
instrumental	gadem	gadami
locative	gadzie	gadach
vocative	gadzie	gady

Scottish Gaelic

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /kat̪/

Pronoun

gad

you (informal singular, direct object)
Bruidhinn nas labhaire, chan eil mi gad chluinntinn ceart. ― Speak louder, I don't hear you well.

Usage notes

Lenites the following word.

Related terms

ga
gam
gan
gar
gur
iad
tu

Etymology 2

From Old Irish gat, from Proto-Celtic *gazdo-, from late Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰasto- or *ǵʰasdʰo- (“branch ~ spear, sharp spine”), a root also connected to Proto-Germanic *gazdaz (“spike”), Latin hasta (“spear”).

Noun

gad m (genitive singular gaid, plural gaid or gadan)

withy, withe

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Conjunction

gad

Alternative form of ged

Mutation

Scottish Gaelic mutation
Radical	Lenition
gad	ghad
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *gadъ.

Noun

gȁd m (Cyrillic spelling га̏д)

a repulsive person
scoundrel
cad
asshole
snake; lizard

Declension

Declension of gad

	singular	plural
nominative	gad	gadovi
genitive	gada	gadova
dative	gadu	gadovima
accusative	gada	gadove
vocative	gade	gadovi
locative	gadu	gadovima
instrumental	gadom	gadovima

Somali

Verb

gad

to buy

Torres Strait Creole

Noun

gad

(eastern dialect) an immature coconut

Usage notes

Gad or smol koknat is the third stage of coconut growth. It is preceded by giru (eastern dialect) or musu koknat (western dialect), and followed by kopespes.

Veps

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

gad

snake

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Volapük

Noun

gad (nominative plural gads)

garden

Declension

declension of gad

	singular	plural
nominative	gad	gads
genitive	gada	gadas
dative	gade	gades
accusative	gadi	gadis
vocative ¹	o gad!	o gads!
predicative ²	gadu	gadus

¹ status as a case is disputed
² in later, non-classical Volapük only

Derived terms

bimagad
brasidagad
celepagad
floragad
flukagad
gadabam
gadam
gadamöb
gadan
gadanik
gadapiadil
gadaplan
gadatail
gadatuin
gadav
gadavaklub
gadavam
gadavan
gadavik
gadik
gadil
gadilik
gadimeik
gadöm
gadön
higadan
härbatagad
jigadan
kasedagad
labürenagad
legad
legadik
nimagad
planavagad
rosadagad
sanakebagad
spatagad
tedagadan
vitidagad

Welsh

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɡaːd/
Rhymes: -aːd

Noun

gad

Soft mutation of cad.

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
cad	gad	nghad	chad
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Alternative forms

gadawa (colloquial)

Verb

gad

(literary) second-person singular imperative of gadael

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
gad	ad	ngad	unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Western Apache

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [kàt]

Noun

gad

cedar or juniper tree, especially Juniperus deppeana.

References

2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

gad

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Interjection

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Verb

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

Etymology 3

Alternative forms

Noun

References

Etymology 4

Noun

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Anagrams

Afar

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

References

Danish

Pronunciation

Verb

Irish

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Declension

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Verb

Conjugation

Mutation

Further reading

Lower Sorbian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Further reading

Navajo

Pronunciation

Noun

Polish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Derived terms

Noun

Declension

Further reading

Scottish Gaelic

Pronunciation

Pronoun

Usage notes

Related terms

Etymology 2

Noun

Etymology 3

Conjunction

Mutation

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Noun

Declension

Somali

Verb

Torres Strait Creole

Noun

Usage notes

Veps

Etymology

Noun