Etymology
1. O.E.
gong "a going, journey, way, passage," and O.N.
gangr "a group of men, a set," both from P.Gmc.
*gangaz (noun of action related to
*gangan "to go"), from PIE base
*ghengh- "to step" (cf. Skt.
jangha "shank," Avestan
zanga- "ankle," Lith.
zengiu "I stride"). The sense evolution is probably via meaning "a set of articles that are usually taken together in going," especially a set of tools used on the same job. By 1627 this had been extended in nautical speech to mean "a company of workmen," and by 1632 the word was being used, with disapproving overtones, for "any band of persons traveling together."
Gangway is O.E.
gangweg "road, passage," and preserves the original sense of the word, as does
gangplank (1846, Amer.Eng., replacing earlier
gang-board). To
gang up (on) is first attested 1925. To
come on like gangbusters (c.1940) is from radio drama "Gangbusters" (1937-57) which always opened with a cacophony of sirens, screams, shots, and jarring music.
Gang of Four (1976) translates Chinese
sirenbang, the nickname given to the four leaders of the Cultural Revolution who took the fall in Communist China after the death of Mao.
2. Etymology tree
3. Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰengʰ-der.
4. Proto-Germanic *ganganą
5. Proto-West Germanic *gangan
6. Old English gangan
7. Middle English gangen
8. English gang
9. From Middle English gangen, from Old English gangan (“to go, walk, turn out”), from Proto-West Germanic *gangan, from Proto-Germanic *ganganą (“to go, walk”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰengʰ- (“to step, walk”).
10. Cognate with Scots gang (“to go on foot, walk”), Swedish gånga (“to walk, go”), Faroese ganga (“to walk”), Icelandic ganga (“to walk, go”), Norwegian Nynorsk ganga (“to walk, go”), Vedic Sanskrit जंहस् (jáṃhas). Ultimately related to etymology 2, which see below. See: Old English '
gangan', Proto-Germanic '
*ganganą', Scots '
gang', Swedish '
gånga', Faroese '
ganga', Icelandic '
ganga', Norwegian, nynorsk '
ganga'.