gander
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L321122 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈɡæn.də(ɹ)/ / /ˈɡæn.dɚ/
name
Etymology: * As an English surname, from the noun gander. * Also as an English surname, spelling variant of Ganter, itself related to French ganter (“to glove”). * As a north German surname, from Gandern in Brandenburg. * Also as a north German surname, from Ganter (“male goose”). * As a south German and Alemannic German surname, from Gand (“scree”). The town in Newfoundland is named after Gander Bay or Gander Lake, the names of which derive from the noun gander.
- A surname.
- A town in Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador.
noun
Etymology: From Middle English gandre, from Old English gandra, ganra (“gander”), from Proto-West Germanic *ganʀō, from Proto-Germanic *ganzô (“gander”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰh₂éns (“goose”). The meaning "a look" is derived from the image of craning one's neck like a goose. The meaning 'a man apart from his wife' is derived from a concept of a grass widower, and of calling a husband a goose. Cognates Cognate with Dutch gander (“gander”), Low German Gander, Ganner (“gander”), dialectal German Gandert (“gander”), German Ganter (“gander”), Norwegian gasse (“gander”), Icelandic gassi (“gander”). Compare also Lithuanian gañdras (“stork”). Related to goose, gannet.
- A male goose.
“Ganders and geese are at their best for stock from two to ten years old. They live to a great age—it is stated to thirty or more years—but after ten years they cannot be reckoned upon as reliable assets on a farm. Two years old is the best age to mate them, making up pens of a gander and two or three geese at the New Year. It is difficult sometimes to distinguish ganders from geese. A practical man is, however, rarely mistaken.”
“Old Mother Goose / When she wanted to wander / Would ride through the air / On a very fine gander.”
- A fool, simpleton.
- A glance, look.
“Have a gander at what he’s written.”
“I took a gander and she seemed so familiar.”
- A man living apart from his wife.
verb
Etymology: From Middle English gandre, from Old English gandra, ganra (“gander”), from Proto-West Germanic *ganʀō, from Proto-Germanic *ganzô (“gander”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰh₂éns (“goose”). The meaning "a look" is derived from the image of craning one's neck like a goose. The meaning 'a man apart from his wife' is derived from a concept of a grass widower, and of calling a husband a goose. Cognates Cognate with Dutch gander (“gander”), Low German Gander, Ganner (“gander”), dialectal German Gandert (“gander”), German Ganter (“gander”), Norwegian gasse (“gander”), Icelandic gassi (“gander”). Compare also Lithuanian gañdras (“stork”). Related to goose, gannet.
- to ramble, wander