gable

Where does the word "gable" come from? It comes from Old Norse gafl, passing through Middle English before entering English (1500s).

Gable’s story begins in Old Norse: gafl meant “gable.” A gable end; Old French 'gable', from the same Germanic source, reinforced it. By 1300s, the word had taken hold in Middle English as gable. Used for the pointed end walls of timber and stone houses. It reached English by 1500s as gable. Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The House of the Seven Gables' appeared in 1851. Today, gable means the triangular upper part of a wall under a pitched roof.

1. Stage 1 · Old Norse · medieval gafl "gable", a gable end; Old French 'gable', from the same Germanic source, reinforced it.
2. Stage 2 · Middle English · 1300s gable "gable", used for the pointed end walls of timber and stone houses.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1500s gable "gable", Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The House of the Seven Gables' appeared in 1851.