v. (pres. 3 sg.)
'gnashes'
(Modern English )Always derived from ON, cp. OIcel gnastan 'gnashing (of teeth)' and gnísta 'gnash teeth, snarl'. The ME v. can either be explained as deriving from an ablaut variant or, as OED notes, irregular variation due to the onomatopoeic nature of the word. The root does not appear outside Scandinavia and the ult. etymology is unclear, but probably imitative.
PGmc Ancestor
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
cp. gnastan 'gnashing (of teeth)', gnísta 'gnash teeth, snarl'
(ONP cp. gnastan (sb.), gnísta, nísta (vb.)(2))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
OE Cognate
Phonological and morphological markers
Summary category
B1
MED's citations, beginning in the mid-14c., are especially frequent from the E and N/EM but also include more widespread instances, incl. Malory.
Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus
WA 5321