Online Etymology Dictionary

gate: O.E. gæt (pl. geatu) "opening, passage," from P.Gmc. *gatan (cf. O.N., O.S., O.Fris., Du. gat "an opening"), of unknown origin. Meaning "money collected from selling tickets" dates from 1896. Gate-crasher is from 1927.
Babel: capital of Babylon, late 14c., from Heb. Babhel (Gen. ix), from Akkadian bab-ilu "Gate of God" (from bab "gate" + ilu "god"). The name is a translation of Sumerian Ka-dingir. Meaning "confused medley of sounds" (1520s) is from the biblical story of the Tower of Babel.
Babylon: mid-14c., from Gk. version of Akkad. Bab-ilani "the gate of the gods," from bab "gate" + ilani, pl. of ilu "god" (cf. Babel). The O.Pers. form, Babiru-, shows characteristic transformation of -l- to -r- in words assimilated from Semitic.
Baha'i: 1889, mystical, tolerant Iranian religion founded by a Mirza Ali Mohammed ibn Radhik, Shiraz merchant executed for heresy in 1850, and named for his leading disciple, Baha Allah (Pers. "splendor of God;" ultimately from Arabic). It also is sometimes called Babism, after the name taken by the founder, Bab-ed-Din, "gate of the faith."
creak: early 14c., "utter a harsh cry," of imitative origin. Used of the sound made by a rusty gate hinge, etc., from 1580s. Related: Creaky (1834).
crisis: c.1425, from Gk. krisis "turning point in a disease" (used as such by Hippocrates and Galen), lit. "judgment," from krinein "to separate, decide, judge," from PIE base *krei- "to sieve, discriminate, distinguish" (cf. Gk. krinesthai "to explain;" O.E. hriddel "sieve;" L. cribrum "sieve," crimen "judgment, crime," cernere (pp. cretus) "to sift, separate;" O.Ir. criathar, O.Welsh cruitr "sieve;" M.Ir. crich "border, boundary"). Transferred non-medical sense is 1627. A Ger. term for "mid-life crisis" is Torschlusspanik, lit. "shut-door-panic," fear of being on the wrong side of a closing gate.
gait: c.1200, gate "a going or walking, departure, journey," earlier "way, road, path," from O.N. gata "way, road, path." Meaning "manner of walking" is from 1509. Modern spelling developed before 1750, originally in Scottish.
-gate: suffix attached to anything to indicate "scandal involving," 1973, abstracted from Watergate, Washington, D.C., building complex, home of the National Headquarters of the Democratic Party when it was burglarized June 17, 1972.
Janus: ancient It. deity, guardian god of portals, patron of beginnings and endings, 1508, from L., lit. "gate, arched passageway," perhaps from PIE base *ei- "to go" (cf. Skt. yanah "path," O.C.S. jado "to travel"). He is shown as having two faces, one in front the other in back. His temple in Rome was closed only in times of peace.
jean: "twilled cotton cloth," 1436, from Fr. jean fustian "fustian (a type of twilled cotton cloth) of Genoa," the city in Italy, from O.Fr. Jannes "Genoa," from L. Genua, perhaps from janua "gate," or in ref. to the god Janus (q.v.). The plural form became standard 19c. First used 1843 in sense of "pants made from jean."
pylon: 1823, "gateway to an Egyptian temple," from Gk. pylon "gateway," from pyle "gate," of unknown origin. Meaning "tower for guiding aviators" (1909) led to that of "steel tower for high-tension wires" (1923).
sublime: 1586, "expressing lofty ideas in an elevated manner," from M.Fr. sublime, from L. sublimis "uplifted, high, lofty," possibly originally "sloping up to the lintel," from sub "up to" + limen "lintel." The sublime "the sublime part of anything" is from 1679. Sublime Porte, former title of the Ottoman government, is from Fr. la Sublime Porte, lit. "the high gate," a loan-translation of Arabic Bab 'Ali, title of the Ottoman court at Constantinople (cf. mikado).
bar (1): late 12c., "stake or rod of iron used to fasten a door or gate," from O.Fr. barre (12c.) "beam, bar, gate, barrier," from V.L. *barra "bar, barrier," which some suggest is from Gaulish *barros "the bushy end" [Gamillscheg], but OED regards this as "discredited" because it "in no way suits the sense." Of soap, by 1833; of candy, by 1906 (the process itself dates to the 1840s). Meaning "bank of sand across a harbor or river mouth" is from 1580s, probably so called because it was an obstruction to navigation. Bar graph is attested from 1925. Bar code first recorded 1963. Behind bars "in prison" is attested by 1934, U.S.
bar (v.): c.1300, "to fasten (a gate, etc.) with a bar," from bar (1); sense of "to obstruct, prevent" is recorded by 1570s. Expression bar none "without exception" is recorded from 1866.
barbican: "outer fortification of a city or castle," c.1300, from O.Fr. barbacane (12c.), a general Romanic word, perhaps ultimately from Arabic or Persian (cf. bab-khanah "gate-house").
hatch (n.): O.E. hæc (gen. hæcce) "fence, gate," from P.Gmc. *khak- (cf. M.H.G. heck, Du. hek "fence, gate"). Sense of "plank opening in ship's deck" is first recorded mid-13c. Drinking phrase down the hatch first recorded 1931. Hatchback as a type of rear door of an automobile is from 1970.
wicket: early 13c., "small door or gate," from Anglo-Fr. wiket, from O.N.Fr. wiket (Fr. guichet) "wicket, wicket gate," probably from P.Gmc. *wik- (cf. O.N. vik "nook") related to O.E. wican "to give way, yield" (see weak). The notion is of "something that turns." Cricket sense of "set of three sticks defended by the batsman" is recorded from 1733.
entrance (n.): 1520s, from M.Fr. entrance, from entrer (see enter). Originally "act of entering," sense of "door, gate" first recorded in English 1530s.
lid: O.E. hlid "lid, cover, opening, gate," from P.Gmc. *khlithan (cf. O.N. hlið "gate, gap," Swed. lid "gate," Du. lid, O.H.G. hlit "lid, cover"), from PIE base *kli- "cover, shut," or *klei- "to lean" (see lean (v.)), with here perhaps the sense of "that which bends over." Meaning "eyelid" is from c.1220. Slang sense of "hat, cap" is attested from 1896. Slang phrase put a lid on "clamp down on, silence, end" is from 1909.
billingsgate: 1670s, the kind of coarse, abusive language once used by women in the Billingsgate market (mid-13c., not exclusively a fish market until late 17c.) on the River Thames below London Bridge.
"Billingsgate is the market where the fishwomen assemble to purchase fish; and where, in their dealings and disputes they are somewhat apt to leave decency and good manners a little on the left hand." ["Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1811]
The place name is O.E. Billingesgate, "gate of (a man called) Billing;" the "gate" probably being a gap in the Roman river wall.
hinge: c.1300, "the axis of the earth;" late 14c. as "movable joint of a gate or door," not found in O.E., cognate with M.Du. henghe "hook, handle," M.L.G. henge "hinge;" all derived from the root of the verb hang on notion of the thing from which a door hangs.
pen (2): "enclosure for animals," O.E. penn, penne, "enclosure," perhaps related to O.E. pinn "pin, peg" (see pin) on notion of a bolted gate or else "structure made of pointed stakes." The verb, "to enclose in a pen" is attested from c.1200. Slang noun meaning "prison" (1884) is shortening of penitentiary (q.v.), but earlier use (1845) is probably a fig. extension of this word.
ticket: 1520s, "short note or document," from an aphetic form of M.Fr. etiquet "label, note," from O.Fr. estiquette "a little note" (late 14c.), especially one affixed to a gate or wall as a public notice, from estiquer "to affix, stick," from Frank. *stikkan, cognate with O.E. stician "to pierce" (see stick (v.)). Meaning "card or piece of paper that gives its holder a right or privilege" is first recorded 1673, probably developing from the sense of "certificate, license, permit." The political sense of "list of candidates put forward by a faction" has been used in Amer.Eng. since 1711. The verb is first recorded 1610s. Meaning "official notification of offense" is from 1930; parking ticket first attested 1947. Big ticket item is from 1970. Slang the ticket "just the thing, what is expected" is recorded from 1838, perhaps with notion of a winning lottery ticket.
door: M.E. merger of O.E. dor (neut.; pl. doru) "large door, gate," and O.E. duru (fem., pl. dura "door, gate, wicket"), both from P.Gmc. *dur-, from PIE *dhwer-/*dhwor- "a doorway, a door, a gate" (cf. Gk. thura, L. foris, Gaul. doro "mouth," Goth. dauro "gate," Skt. dvárah "door, gate," O.Pers. duvara- "door," O.Prus. dwaris "gate," Rus. dver' "a door"). The base form is frequently in dual or plural, leading to speculation that houses of the original Indo-Europeans had doors with two swinging halves. M.E. had both dure and dor; form dore predominated by 16c., but was supplanted by door.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of." [Ogden Nash]
First record of dooryard is c.1764, Amer.Eng.; doorstep is from 1810.
mikado: 1727, former title of the emperor of Japan, from mi "honorable" + kado "gate, portal." Similar to Sublime Porte, old title of the Ottoman emperor/government, and Pharaoh, which literally means "great house."
shut: O.E. scyttan "to put in place so as to fasten a door or gate," from W.Gmc. *skutjanan (cf. O.Fris. schetta, M.Du. schutten "to shut, shut up, obstruct"), from P.Gmc. *skut- "project" (see shoot). Meaning "to close by folding or bringing together" is from mid-14c. Sense of "to set (someone) free (from)" (c.1500) is obsolete except in dialectal phrases such as to get shut of. Colloquial shut-eye for "sleep" is from 1899. To shut (one's) mouth "desist from speaking" is recorded from 1340. Shut up (v.) first recorded 1840. Shut-in "person confined from normal social intercourse" is from 1904. Shut out in baseball sense is from 1881 (v.), 1889 (n.).
traverse (v.): early 14c., "pass across, over, or through," from O.Fr. traverser "to cross, thwart" (11c.), from V.L. *traversare, from L. transversare "to cross, throw across," from L. transversus "turn across" (see transverse). The noun meaning "act of passing through a gate, crossing a bridge, etc." is recorded from 1347; meaning "a passage by which one may traverse" is recorded from 1670s. Military foritifcation sense of "barrier, barricade" is recorded from 1590s.
porch: late 13c., from O.Fr. porche, from L. porticus "covered gallery, arcade," from porta "gate." The L. word was borrowed directly into O.E. as portic.
port (1): "harbor," O.E. port "harbor, haven," reinforced by O.Fr. port, both O.E. and O.Fr. from L. portus "port, harbor," originally "entrance, passage," from PIE *prtu- "a going, a passage," from base *per- "to lead, pass over" (cf. Skt. parayati "carries over;" Gk. poros "journey, passage, way," peirein "to pierce, run through;" L. porta "gate, door," portare "passage," peritus "experienced;" Avestan peretush "passage, ford, bridge;" Armenian hordan "go forward;" Welsh rhyd "ford;" O.C.S. pariti "fly;" O.E. faran "to go, journey," O.N. fjörðr "inlet, estuary"). Meaning "left side of a ship" is attested from 1543, from notion of "the side facing the harbor" (when a ship is docked). It replaced larboard in common usage to avoid confusion with starboard (q.v.); officially so by Admiralty order of 1844 and U.S. Navy Department notice of 1846. Fig. sense "place of refuge" is attested from 1426; phrase any port in a storm first recorded 1749.
port (2): "gateway," O.E., from O.Fr. porte "gate, entrance," from L. porta "gate, door," from PIE base *per- (see port (1)). Specific meaning "porthole, opening in the side of a ship" is attested from 1243.
portal: c.1300, from M.L. portale "city gate, porch," from neut. of portalis (adj.) "of a gate," from L. porta "gate" (see port (2)).
portcullis: c.1300, from O.Fr. porte coleice "sliding gate" (c.1200), from porte "gate" (see port (2)) + coleice "sliding, flowing," fem. of coleis, from L. colatus, pp. of colare "to filter, strain."
Porte: "Ottoman court at Constantinople," 1609, from Fr., la Sublime Porte, translation of Arabic bab-i-'aliy, lit. "lofty gate," official name of the central office of the Ottoman government (cf. Vatican for "the Papacy," Kremlin for "the U.S.S.R."). Supposedly a ref. to the ancient custom of holding royal audience in the doorway of a king's palace or tent.
porter (2): "doorkeeper, janitor," 1180s, from Anglo-Fr. portour, from O.Fr. portier, from L.L. portarius "gatekeeper," from L. porta "gate" (see port (2)).
portico: 1605, from It. portico, from L. porticus "colonnade, arcade," from porta "gate" (see port (2)). Specifically of the Painted Porch in Athens.
postern: late 13c., "back door, private door," from O.Fr. posterne, earlier posterle, from L.L. posterula "small back door or gate," dim. of L. posterus "that is behind, coming after, subsequent," from post "after."
turnpike: c.1420, "spiked road barrier used for defense," from turn + pike (2) "shaft." Sense transf. to "horizontal cross of timber, turning on a vertical pin" (1547), which were used to bar horses from foot roads. This led to the sense of "barrier to stop passage until a toll is paid" (1678). Meaning "road with a toll gate" is from 1748, shortening of turnpike road (1745).
straight (adj.2): "conventional," especially "heterosexual," 1941, probably in part from straight and narrow path "course of conventional morality and law-abiding behavior," which is based on a misreading of Matt. vii.14 (where the gate is actually strait), and the other influence seems to be from strait-laced.
tailgate (n.): 1868, back panel on a wagon, hinged to swing down and open, from tail + gate. Extended by 1950 to hatchback door on an automobile. The verb meaning "to drive too close behind another vehicle" is from 1951; tailgate party "party or picnic at the open tail-gate of a parked car" is attested from 1970.
watergate: mid-14c., "channel for water," from water (n.1) + gate. The name of a building in Washington, D.C., that housed the headquarters of the Democratic Party in the 1972 presidential election, it was burglarized June 17, 1972, which led to the resignation of President Nixon.
Dachau: town in Bavaria, Germany, from O.H.G. daha "clay" + ouwa "island," describing its situation on high ground by the Amper River. Infamous as the site of a Nazi concentration camp nearby, opened in 1933 as a detention site for political prisoners and surrendered to the U.S. Army April 29, 1945. Not a death camp per se, but as it was one of the places where inmates from other camps were sent as the Reich collapsed at the end of the war, and as it was one of the few large camps overrun by the British or American forces, it has come to symbolize Nazi atrocities in many minds in the West. "Arbeit Macht Frei" was spelled out in metal on the gate (as it was on other concentration camps, e.g. Gross-Rosen, Sachsenhausen, Theresienstadt).
floodgate: early 13c. in the figurative sense (especially with reference to tears or rain); literal sense is mid-15c.; from flood + gate.