Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

give

/ˈɡɪv/

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: 5.71 in modern English

Syllables
give
IPA
/ˈɡɪv/
8
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To move, shift, provide something abstract or concrete to someone or something or somewhere.

Slang; Transitive verb

Example Sentences

Etymology

From Middle English given, yeven, yiven, ȝiven, from merger of Old English ġefan, ġeofan, ġiefan, ġifan, ġiofan, ġyfan (“to give”) and Old Norse gefa (“to give”), from Proto-Germanic *gebaną (“to give”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰebʰ- (“to give; to take”). Displaced yive, from Middle English yiven, of the same origin, from influence of Old Norse gefa. Cognates Cognate with Yola gee, ye, yie, yive (“to give”), Scots gie (“to give”), North Frisian gjiuwe, iiv, jiiw, jiw, jeewe (“to give”), West Frisian jaan (“to give”), Alemannic German gë (“to give”), Bavarian gebn (“to give”), Central Franconian jevve (“to give”), Cimbrian gem, ghèban (“to give”), Dutch geven (“to give”), German geben (“to give”), Luxembourgish ginn (“to give”), Vilamovian gaon (“to give”), Yiddish געבן (gebn, “to give”), Danish give (“to give”), Elfdalian djävå (“to give”), Faroese geva (“to give”), Icelandic gefa (“to give”), Norwegian Bokmål gi (“to give”), Norwegian Nynorsk gi, giva, gje, gjeva, gjeve (“to give”), Swedish ge, gifva, giva (“to give”), Gothic 𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 (giban, “to give”); also Greek κεφάλι (kefáli), κεφαλή (kefalí, “head”), Lithuanian gobti (“cover up; to grab, snatch”), Polish gabać (“to touch; to tap; to accost”), Serbo-Croatian ха̏бати, hȁbati (“to abrade, wear out”), Sanskrit गभस्ति (gabhasti, “shining”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: *gʰebʰ-, given, ġefan, gefa, *gebaną

Usage

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Phrases

Frequently Paired Words

Synonyms

Antonyms

Rhymes With

Questions

How do you pronounce give?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɡɪv/.
What does give mean?
To move, shift, provide something abstract or concrete to someone or something or somewhere.
Where does give come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce give

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “give”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈɡɪv/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “give”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “give” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.