gossip
pronunciation
How to pronounce gossip in British English:
UK [ˈɡɒsɪp]
How to pronounce gossip in American English:
US [ˈɡɑːsɪp]
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- Noun:
- light informal conversation for social occasions
- a report (often malicious) about the behavior of other people
- a person given to gossiping and divulging personal information about others
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- Verb:
- wag one's tongue; speak about others and reveal secrets or intimacies
- talk socially without exchanging too much information
Word Origin
- gossip
- gossip: [OE] The Anglo-Saxons’ term for a ‘godparent’ was godsibb, a compound formed from god ‘god’ (just as in modern English godmother, godfather, etc) and sib ‘relative’ (a word of unknown origin from which modern English gets sibling). It denotes one’s ‘relative in God’, one’s ‘spiritual relative’. By Middle English times, however, it had come down in the world somewhat, to mean simply ‘close friend’, and by the 16th century it was being used for ‘one who indulges in idle talk’. The modern sense ‘idle talk’ developed from the verb in the 19th century.=> god, sibling
- gossip (n.)
- Old English godsibb "sponsor, godparent," from God + sibb "relative" (see sibling). Extended in Middle English to "a familiar acquaintance, a friend, neighbor" (c. 1300), especially to woman friends invited to attend a birth, later to "anyone engaging in familiar or idle talk" (1560s). Sense extended 1811 to "trifling talk, groundless rumor." Similar formations in Old Norse guðsifja, Old Saxon guþziff.
- gossip (v.)
- "to talk idly about the affairs of others," 1620s, from gossip (n.). Related: Gossiped; gossiping.
Example
- 1. Scandal is gossip made tedious by morality .
- 2. Gossip establishes group boundaries and boosts self-esteem , studies have found .
- 3. According to gossip , he 's an iraqi army general who would rather smoke alone than go home to his wife .
- 4. A disciple confessed his bad habit of repeating gossip .
- 5. Never gossip about your boss .