adv.
‘promptly’
(Modern English )A usage of gayn (adj.)?
PGmc Ancestor
*gagni-
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
gegn ‘straight, direct, ready, serviceable, kindly’
(ONP gegn (2) (adj.))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
Icel gegn, Norw gjegn, ODan gjen, Dan dial gjen, Sw dial gen
OE Cognate
gēn (adj.) ‘direct, short’
Phonological and morphological markers
absence of palatalization of */ɡ/
Summary category
A1*c
In ME, found especially in N and E texts and alliterative verse, but also elsewhere.
Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus
Gaw 1621
Most editors read Gaw 1621 as an adv., but could also be parsed as an adj., or as adv. in the sense 'towards, to meet with (him)' (with him understood): thus Wright 1935, McGee 331, Savage 1944: 349.