Where does the word “Gewgaw” come from and What does Gewgaw mean?

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Karen Hill

Probably the term Gewgaw for a gaudy ornament of little value was originally nothing more than a contemptuous duplication of nonsensical sounds, such as shilly-shally, fiddle-daddle, and many others.

No definite source has yet been found for the term, but it is very old.

Though then spelled giuegoue, it appears in the text of Ancren Riwle (Rule of Anchoresses) written in the first quarter of the thirteenth century.

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