See Also: gossip(medicine)
gossip(1)(dictionary)
gossip(2)(dictionary)
gossip 1, noun(dictionary)
gossip 2, verb(dictionary)
gossip column(dictionary)

gossip(1) (iou)



gossip noun.
[Late Old English godsibb, corresp. to Old Norse guesifi godfather, guesifja godmother, formed as GOD noun + SIB adjective, denoting the spiritual affinity of the baptized and their sponsors.]
A godfather or godmother; a sponsor. obsolete exc. Hist. or dial. LOE.
A familiar acquaintance, a friend. (Now only of women.) arch. ME.
C. Bront? The old duennamy mother's gossip.
b. spec. A female friend invited to be present at a birth. arch. L16.
A person who habitually indulges in idle talk, esp. the spreading of rumours and discussion of the private concerns of others. M16.
E. F. Benson Edgar is a dreadful gossip..I recommend you never tell him anything private.
Idle talk; groundless rumour; tittle-tattle; informal, unrestrained talk or writing, esp. about people or social incidents. E19.
G. Santayana Talk..was chiefly gossip, and gossip encouraged a morbid interest in matters that didn't concern one.
Comb.: gossip column a section of a newspaper devoted to social news; gossip-columnist a person who regularly writes a gossip column; gossip-monger a person who habitually passes on confidential information, or spreads rumours.
gossipdom noun gossips as a class; the realm of gossip: L19.
gossiphood noun (now rare) (a) spiritual relationship; (b) a body of gossips: E16.
gossipy adjective inclined to gossip; characterized by or full of gossip: E19.