Join free

give

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

give¹

  • /ˈɡɪv/
  • [ˈɡɪv]

Rhymes with -ɪv

Where it comes from

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”).

verb gives · giving · gave · given · give

  1. ditransitive To transfer one's possession or holding of (something) to (someone). I gave him my coat.
  2. ditransitive To make a present or gift of. I'm going to give my wife a necklace for her birthday.
  3. ditransitive To pledge. I gave him my word that I'd protect his children.
  4. ditransitive To provide (something) to (someone), to allow or afford. I gave them permission to miss tomorrow's class.
  5. ditransitive To cause (a sensation or feeling) to exist in (the specified person, or the target, audience, etc.). It gives me a lot of pleasure to be here tonight.
  6. ditransitive, slang, transitive To give off (a certain vibe or appearance). (Compare giving.) it's giving old Hollywood (vibes)
  7. ditransitive To carry out (a physical interaction) with (something). I want to give you a kiss and a hug.
  8. ditransitive To pass (something) into (someone's hand, etc.). Give me your hand.
  9. ditransitive To cause (a disease or condition) in, or to transmit (a disease or condition) to. My boyfriend gave me chlamydia.
  10. ditransitive To provide or administer (a medication). The doctors gave me morphine for the pain.
  11. ditransitive To present someone to an audience. Playing for us tonight, I give you The Beatles!
  12. ditransitive To propose someone for a toast, used in standard formulations for toasts. On this happy evening, I give you the bride and groom!
  13. transitive To provide, as, a service or a broadcast. They're giving my favorite show!
  14. ditransitive To estimate or predict (a duration or probability) for (something). I give it ten minutes before he gives up.
  15. intransitive To yield or collapse under pressure or force. One pillar gave, then more, and suddenly the whole floor pancaked onto the floor below.
  16. intransitive To lead (onto or into). The master bedroom gives onto a spacious balcony.
  17. dated, transitive To provide a view of. His window gave the park.
  18. To exhibit as a product or result; to produce; to yield. The number of men, divided by the number of ships, gives four hundred to each ship.
  19. To cause; to make; used with the infinitive. But there the duke was given to understand / That in a gondola were seen together / Lorenzo and his amorous Jessica.
  20. To cause (someone) to have; produce in (someone); effectuate. "Can do" gives me a choice, while "should do" gives me a complex.
  21. To allow or admit by way of supposition; to concede. He can be bad-tempered, I'll give you that, but he's a hard worker.
  22. To attribute; to assign; to adjudge. I don't wonder at people giving him to me for a lover.
  23. To communicate or announce (advice, tidings, etc.); to pronounce or utter (an opinion, a judgment, a shout, etc.). The umpire finally gave his decision: the ball was out.
  24. dated To grant power, permission, destiny, etc. (especially to a person); to allot; to allow. These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth.
  25. reflexive To devote or apply (oneself). The soldiers give themselves to plunder.
  26. obsolete To become soft or moist. Some moyst weather hath‥caused the powder to give and danke.
  27. obsolete To shed tears; to weep. Whose eyes do never give / But through lust and laughter.
  28. obsolete To have a misgiving. My mind gives ye're reserv'd / To rob poor market women.

Similar: accord, add, assign, award, bestow, bequeath, confer, contribute, deliver, do, donate, furnish

noun giv · yive

  1. uncountable The amount of bending that something undergoes when a force is applied to it; a tendency to yield under pressure; resilience. This chair doesn't have much give.

give²

noun gives

  1. alternative Alternative form of gyve.gyve

Talk about this word