gadling

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English gadelyng (“companion in arms; man, fellow; a person of low birth; rascal, scoundrel; bastard; base, lowborn”), gadeling (“vagabond”), from Old English geaduling, gædeling (“kinsman, fellow, companion in arms, comrade”), from Proto-West Germanic *gaduling, from Proto-Germanic *gadulingaz, *gadilingaz (“relative, kinsman”), equivalent to gad +‎ -ling. Related to Old English ġegada (“comrade, companion”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈɡæd.lɪŋ/ === Noun === gadling (plural gadlings) (obsolete) A companion in arms, fellow, comrade. A roving vagabond; one who roams A man of humble condition; a fellow; a low fellow; lowborn; originally comrade or companion, in a good sense, but later used in reproach A spike on a gauntlet; a gad. === References === “gadling”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia == Middle English == === Noun === gadling (London, Northern) alternative form of gadelyng