gift

A gift in English is a little time capsule from the North Sea world, not the Latin one. Old English had a near-cousin, ġift, but it usually meant a bride-price or marriage gift; the everyday word for an ordinary gift was giefu. Then Old Norse came barging in with gift and gipt, and English eventually liked the Scandinavian version better. That’s why we can still hear the old Germanic family resemblance in words like give and forgive — but not in German Gift, which took a hard left turn and means “poison.” So the next time someone hands you a present, remember: one tiny syllable once covered weddings, luck, and, in another language, something you definitely would not want in a teacup.