English Explanatory Dictionary

gadling

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A companion in arms; fellow; comrade.
  2. A roving vagabond; one who roams.
  3. A man of humble condition; a fellow; a low fellow; lowborn. Originally comrade or companion in a good sense, but later used in reproach.
  4. A spike on a gauntlet; a gad.

Pronunciation

/ˈɡæd.lɪŋ/

Word forms

gadling gadlings

Etymology

From Middle English gadelyng (“companion in arms; man, fellow; a person of low birth; rascal, scoundrel; bastard; base, lowborn”), gadeling (“vagabond”), from Old English geaduling, gædeling (“kinsman, fellow, companion in arms, comrade”), from Proto-West Germanic *gaduling, from Proto-Germanic *gadulingaz, *gadilingaz (“relative, kinsman”), equivalent to gad + -ling. Related to Old English ġegada (“comrade, companion”).

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