n. (pl.)
'New Year's gifts'
(Modern English gift)ME ʒift(e) formally continues OE gift, gyft. It is often assumed that the sense ‘gift’ shows input from ON, cp. OIcel gift ‘gift’, probably via the loan gifte (thus Bj. (tentatively), TGD, GDS, McGee 335). But there are (relatively rare) instances of the OE word in a compatible sense, and the more general meaning is also found with the Gmc cognates (cp. Go fragifts, OFris ieft, OS, OHG gift; see gifte). A further alternative is that ME forms of the n. in /j-/ are new formations from the v. (OED).
PGmc Ancestor
*geftiz
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
gift ‘gift’
(ONP gift (n.))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
Far gift, Icel gift, Norw gift, Dan gift, Sw gift
OE Cognate
gift, gyft ‘gift to a woman at marriage, dowry; (pl.) marriage’
Phonological and morphological markers
Summary category
CC3a
Forms indicating initial /j-/ are widespread in the sense ‘gift’ in ME.
Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus
Gaw 67
Often printed as two words, without a hyphen at Gaw 67 (thus Madden, Morris, M(G), GDS, AW); Rynell (187) notes a proposed emendation to -giftes.