gnast

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -æst

Etymology 1

From Middle English gnast, knast, from Old English *gnāst (“spark”) (attested in fȳrgnāst (“spark of fire”)), from Proto-Germanic *gahnaistô (“spark”), from Proto-Germanic *ga- + Proto-Germanic *hnaistô (“spark”), perhaps from the ultimate (imitative) source of German knistern (“to crackle”).^[1]

Cognate with German dialectal Ganster (“spark”), Danish gnist (“spark, sparkle”), Swedish gnista (“spark”), Icelandic gneisti, neisti (“spark”), German Gneis (“spark, gneiss”) (whence English gneiss).

Noun

gnast (plural gnasts)

1. (obsolete) A spark; a dying or dead spark, as of a snuffed candle.

Etymology 2

From Middle English gnasten, gnaisten, from Old English *gnǣstan, from Proto-Germanic *gnaistijaną, causative of *gnīstijaną (“to grind”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰneydh-, *gʰneyd- (“to gnaw, scratch, rub”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian knasterje (“to gnash”), German Low German gnatschen (“to knead, gnash”), German knastern (“to gnash”), Icelandic gnesta (“to crack”).

Verb

gnast (third-person singular simple present gnasts, present participle gnasting, simple past and past participle gnasted)

1. (transitive, intransitive, obsolete) To gnash.

Derived terms

• gnasting

References

1. Guus Kroonen (2013) “gnaistan”, in Alexander Lubotsky, editor, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 183

Anagrams

• 'ganst, Gnats, Stang, Tangs, Tsang, angst, gnat's, gnats, stang, tangs

Middle English

Alternative forms

• gnost, gnoste, knast

Etymology

From Old English *gnāst, from Proto-Germanic *gahnaistô.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡnast/, /ɡnɔːst/

Noun

gnast

1. spark (small fire)
2. ash (burnt-out lit matter)

Descendants

• English: gnast

References

• “gnōst, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.