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Origin and history of gain

gain(n.)

c. 1200, gein, "advantage, benefit; help," c. 1300, "reward, profit, that which has been acquired" (possessions, resources, wealth), from Old French gain, gaaigne "gain, profit, advantage; work, business; booty; arable land" (12c.), from Germanic, and from Old Norse (see gain (v.)). Meaning "any incremental increase" (in weight, etc.) is by 1851. Related: Gains. The French word enfolded the notions of "profit from agriculture" and "booty, prey."

gain(v.)

1520s, "obtain as profit," from French gagner, from Old French gaaignier "to earn, gain; trade; capture, win," also "work in the fields, cultivate land," from Frankish *waidanjan "hunt, forage," also "graze, pasture," from Proto-Germanic *waithanjan "to hunt, plunder," from *waithjo- "pursuit, hunting" (source also of Old English waþ "hunting," German Weide "pasture, pasturage," Old Norse veiðr "hunting, fishing, catch of fish").

This is from PIE root *weie- "to go after, strive after, pursue vigorously, desire," with noun derivatives indicating "force, power" (related to *wi-ro- "man;" see virile). Cognates include Sanskrit padavi- "track, path, trail," veti- "follows, strives, leads, drives;" Avestan vateiti "follows, hunts;" Greek hiemai "move oneself forward, strive, desire;" Lithuanian vyti "to chase, pursue;" Old Norse veiðr "chase, hunting, fishing;" Old English OE wað "a chase, hunt."

Meaning "obtain by effort or striving" is from 1540s; intransitive sense of "profit, make gain" is from 1570s. Meaning "arrive at" is from c. 1600. Of timepieces by 1861. Related: Gained; gaining. To gain on "advance nearer" is from 1719. To gain ground (1620s) was originally military.

also from 1520s

Entries linking to gain

virile(adj.)

late 15c., of things or qualities, "pertaining to or characteristic of a man (as opposed to a woman); marked by manly force, not feminine or puerile;" from Old French viril (14c.) and directly from Latin virilis "of a man, manly, worthy of a man," from vir "a man, a hero" (from PIE root *wi-ro- "man").

In Rome in reference to the toga assumed by males upon attainment of a man's age; thus also in English in reference to dress belonging to men as opposed to youth. Hence also "belonging to the male power in procreation; virile member for "penis" (Latin membrum virile) is recorded from 1540s.

gainer(n.)

"one who gains or profits," 1530s, agent noun from gain (v.). As "one who (deliberately) gains weight" by 2000s.

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invitation
mid-15c., "act of inviting, solicitation," from Latin invitationem (nominative invitatio) "an invitation, incitement, challenge," noun of action from past participle stem of invitare "invite, treat, entertain," originally "be pleasant toward," from in- "toward" (from PIE root *en
vim
1843, usually said to be from Latin vim, accusative of vis "strength, force, power, vigor, energy," from Proto-Italic *wis-, traditionally from PIE root *weie- "to go after, pursue with vigor or desire," with noun derivatives indicating "force, power" (see gain (v.)) and related
reduce
late 14c., reducen, "bring back" (to a place or state, a sense now obsolete), also "to diminish" (something), from Old French reducer (14c.), from Latin reducere "lead back, bring back," figuratively "restore, replace," from re- "back" (see re-) + ducere "bring, lead" (from PIE r
lucre
"gain in money or goods, profit," late 14c., from Old French lucre, from Latin lucrum "material gain, advantage, profit;...De Vaan says from Proto-Italic *lukro-, from PIE *lhu-tlo- "seizure, gain," with cognates in Greek apolauo "take hold of,...Often specifically in a restricted sense of "base or unworthy gain, money or wealth as the object of greed," hence "greed...
win
victorious," c. 1300 fusion of Old English winnan "to labor, toil, struggle for, work at, strive, fight," and gewinnan "to gain...or succeed by struggling, conquer, obtain," both from Proto-Germanic *wennanan "to seek to gain" (source also of Old Saxon...winnan, Old Norse vinna, Old Frisian winna, Dutch winnen "to gain, win," Danish vinde "to win," Old High German winnan "...Meaning "gain the affection or esteem of" is from c. 1600....
acquire
"to get or gain, obtain," mid-15c., acqueren, from Old French aquerre "acquire, gain, earn, procure" (12c., Modern French...acquérir), from Vulgar Latin *acquaerere, corresponding to Latin acquirere/adquirere "to get in addition to, accumulate, gain...
emolument
arising from office or employment, that which is given as compensation for services," from Old French émolument "advantage, gain..., benefit; income, revenue" (13c.) and directly from Latin emolumentum "profit, gain, advantage, benefit," perhaps originally...Formerly also "profit, advantage, gain in general, that which promotes the good of any person or thing" (1630s)....
attain
c. 1300, "succeed in reaching, come so near as to touch," from ataign-, stem of Old French ataindre "to come up to, reach, attain, endeavor, strive" (11c., Modern French atteindre), from Vulgar Latin *attangere, corresponding to Latin attingere "to touch; arrive at," from ad "to"
find
Old English findan "come upon, meet with; discover; obtain by search or study" (class III strong verb; past tense fand, past participle funden), from Proto-Germanic *findan "to come upon, discover" (source also of Old Saxon findan, Old Frisian finda, Old Norse finna, Middle Dutch
travel
late 14c., "to journey," from travailen (1300) "to make a journey," originally "to toil, labor" (see travail). The semantic development may have been via the notion of "go on a difficult journey," but it also may reflect the difficulty of any journey in the Middle Ages. Replaced

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