An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Gang

by Friedrich Kluge

Gang, m., ‘going, movement, gait, passage,’ M the equiv. MidHG. ganc(g), OHG. gang, m., ‘gait, walking’; corresponding to OSax. gang, Du. gang, AS. gong, m., ‘walking, gait’ (comp. E. gang, gangway, and gangweek), OIc. gangr, n., ‘gait, walking,’ Goth. gaggs, ‘lane.’ Also in older Teut. a str. vb. gangan, ‘to go,’ of which only the pret. ging and the partic. gegangen are still current in ModHG. In East Teut., in which gehen is wanting, ganga (OIc.) and gaggan (Goth.) have a wider range; yet comp. OSwed. and ODan. ga, ‘to go.’ In West Teut. part of gehen has been lost; in E., differing in this respect from G., the older gangan has become entirely obsolete. Teut. root gang, pre-Teut. ghangh. The only correspondences in other Aryan languages are Sans. jáṅghâ, f., ‘leg, foot,’ Lith. żengiù (żèngti), ‘to step,’ akin to Lith. prażanga, ‘trespass.’