gayn

v.

Pe pres. 3 sg. gayneʒ; Cl pres. pl. gaynes; Pat pres. 3 sg. gayneʒ, past 3 sg. gayned; WA pres. 3 sg. gaynes, pres. pl. gayn

‘to profit, be of use; suit' (Modern English )

Etymology

cp. OIcel gegna ‘to meet, pay, discharge, be fitting, signify’ < PGmc *gagnjan-; cp. OE gȳnan ‘to drive’ (< *giegnan), MLG jegenen, OHG gaganen, geginen ‘to meet’; or formed on gayn (adj.). It is formally indistinguishable from the AF verb gainer (see AND s.v.) ‘to win, catch, make a profit (etc.)’, but rather different in sense (see further gayn (n.), gayne).

PGmc Ancestor

*gagnjan-

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

gegna ‘to meet, pay, discharge, be fitting, signify’
(ONP gegna (vb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Far gegna, Icel gegna, Norw gjegna, Dan gjenne, Sw dial gena

OE Cognate

gȳnan ‘to drive’ 

Phonological and morphological markers

absence of palatalization of */ɡ/

Summary category

A1*

Attestation

Widespread across England from early ME; MnE dial Sc. obsc.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Gaw 584, 1829; Pe 343; Cl 1608; Pat 164, 348; WA 181, 2746

Bibliography

MED geinen (v.) , OED gain (v.1) , HTOED , EDD gain (v.), Dance gayn (d)(v.), Bj. 151, de Vries gegn (1) (gegna), Mag. gegn (1) (gegna), Orel *ʒaʒnjanan, AEW gegegnian, giegnan