Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Gain in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels gain as noun. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913noun
Gain

[Cf. W. gan a mortise.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordgain
Part of speechnoun
Historical etymology[Cf. W. gan a mortise.]
Selected historical definitionA square or beveled notch cut out of a girder, binding joist, or other timber which supports a floor beam, so as to receive the end of the floor beam.
Signed record IDwebster1913-gain-noun-5c2ff45fd535
Source locatorCIDE.G, paragraph 146; Gutenberg eBook 663
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 663Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "gain" is labeled noun. Its etymology is recorded as: "[Cf. W. gan a mortise.]" The selected historical definition says: "A square or beveled notch cut out of a girder, binding joist, or other timber which supports a floor beam, so as to receive the end of the floor beam."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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Webster 1913 exact recordverb

Guess

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Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

Ground

[OE. ground, grund, AS. grund; akin to D. grond, OS., G., Sw., & Dan. grund, Icel. grunnr bottom, Goth. grundus (in composition); perh. orig. meaning, dust, gravel, and if so perh. akin to E. grind.]

Webster 1913 exact recordadjective

Grand

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Webster 1913 exact record

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