Meaning
Something given to another voluntarily, without charge.
Etymology
Origin: Old English
From Middle English yifte, ȝift, partly from Old English ġift, ġyft (“giving, consideration, dowry, wedding”) and Old Norse gipt (“gift, present, wedding”); both from Proto-Germanic *giftiz (“gift”). Equivalent to give + -t (etymologically yive + -t). Cognates Cognate with West Frisian jefte (“gift”), Dutch gift (“gift”) and its doublet gif (“poison”), German Gift (“poison”), Luxembourgish Gëft (“poison”), Vilamovian gejft, gyjft (“poison”), Yiddish גיפֿט (gift, “poison”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish gift (“poison”), Icelandic gift (“gift”). Doublet of yift. Distantly related to English habit, from Latin habitus.
Synonyms & Antonyms
NYT Puzzle Appearances
Accepted in 9 recorded puzzles: