gossip

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   Talk or rumours about other people's private lives, often unkind or untrue.

   According to the latest gossip, their relationship is over.

2. 2
   noun

   A person who enjoys talking about other people's private business.

   Be careful what you tell him; he's a terrible gossip.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Gossip comes from Old English godsibb, literally “a person related to one in God,” meaning a godparent. It later referred to a close friend, especially a woman attending a birth, then to someone fond of idle conversation, and by the 19th century to the idle talk itself.

From Middle English godsybbe, godsib (“a close friend or relation, a confidant; a godparent”), from Old English godsibb (“godparent, sponsor”), equivalent to god + sib. Doublet of godsib. For sense evolution to "gossip, discussing others' personal affairs," compare French commérage.

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External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary