gayne

n.

(1) ‘gain, what you obtained’; (2) ‘advantage, benefit, what has accrued’

(Modern English gain)

Etymology

There are two possible sources for this word in Gaw (‘Al þe gayne þow me gef, as god mon schulde’), both of which could conceivably have played a role: (1) (Anglo-)Fr gain (gaine, gaigne etc.), defined by AND as 1. ‘winning, victory; conquest, capture; booty, loot, spoils; winning (of a case); gain; deserts, reward; profit, return; interest; income, wages, earnings’; 2. ‘tillage, arable land; produce’, and ultimately a loan from the PGmc root *waiþ- ‘hunt’ in verbal form (see e.g. Orel, and further Diensberg 2002: 93–5, 2005: 45–6 who prefers an etymon of the form *waid(e)nōn (wk. 2) or *waid(e)nan (wk. 4)). (2) The ME n. gein, derived from a substantival use in ON of the adj. represented by OIcel gegn ‘straight, direct, ready, serviceable, kindly’ < PGmc *gagniz, or formed in ME directly on ME gein adj. (see gayn (adj.)). The sense ‘advantage, benefit, help, remedy’, reflecting the meaning of the ON adj., is perhaps a better fit than the Fr alone (although it is also possible to gloss the word with a sense closer to the Fr, that is with a stronger implication of some physical item of value which has been acquired, e.g. TGD, GDS ‘gain, what you obtained’ and ‘gain’; MED cites both the ON and the Fr etyma for all instances of the n.). It has been argued that all instances of the n. before the late 15c. represent the Norse-derived word and the Fr only comes into English later (Onions 1953: 113, OED).  See further agayn, gayn (adj.), gayn (?adv.), gaynly (adv.), gayn (v.)

PGmc Ancestor

(1) *waiþ-; (2) *gagniz

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

(2) gegn (adj.) ‘straight, direct, ready, serviceable, kindly’
(ONP (2) gegn (2) (adj.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

(2) Icel gegn, Norw gjegn, Dan dial gjen, Sw genast, Sw dial gen, gin

OE Cognate

Phonological and morphological markers

Summary category

D2

Attestation

The n. gein (MED presents all its examples in a single entry) is rare in ME, and shows no particular dial bias.  On the occurrence of the distinct sense areas (which OED divides into separate entries) see etymological discussion.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Gaw 2349

Bibliography

MED gein (n.) , OED gain (n.1) ,Dance gayne, Bj. 151; (1) OED gain (n.2) , HTOED , Orel *waiþjanan ~ *waiþōjanan, AND gain, DEAF gaïn (1), FEW (Germanismes) *waiđa; (2) de Vries gegn (1), Mag. gegn (1), Orel *ʒaʒniz