Gang
Old English, from Old Norse gangr, ganga ‘gait, course, going’, of Germanic origin; related to gang2. The original meaning was ‘going, a journey’, later in Middle English ‘a way’, also ‘set of things or people which go together’.
wiktionary
From Middle English gangen, from Old English gangan(“to go, walk, turn out”), from Proto-Germanic *ganganą(“to go, walk”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰengʰ-(“to step, walk”). Cognate with Scots gang(“to go on foot, walk”), Swedish gånga(“to walk, go”), Faroese ganga(“to walk”), Icelandic ganga(“to walk, go”), Vedic Sanskrit जंहस्(jáṃhas). Ultimately: related to etym. 2, see below.
From Middle English gang, from Old English gang(“a journey; way; passage”), from Proto-Germanic *gangaz, from Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰongʰ-o-s, from *ǵʰengʰ-(“to step; stride”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Gong, Dutch gang, German Gang, Norwegian gang, Swedish gång, Icelandic gangur, Vedic Sanskrit जंहस्(jáṃhas).
See gan.
Shortening of gangbang.
gang ( countable and uncountable, plural gangs)
etymonline
gang (n.)
from Old English gang "a going, journey, way, passage," and Old Norse gangr "a group of men, a set," both from Proto-Germanic *gangaz (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Danish, Dutch, Old High German, German gang, Old Norse gangr, Gothic gagg "act of going"), of uncertain origin, perhaps from PIE root *ghengh- "to step" (source also of Sanskrit jangha "shank," Avestan zanga- "ankle," Lithuanian žengiu "I stride"). Not considered to be related to go.
The sense evolution is probably via meaning "a set of articles that usually are taken together in going" (mid-14c.), especially a set of tools used on the same job. By 1620s this had been extended in nautical speech to mean "a company of workmen," and by 1630s the word was being used, with disapproving overtones, for "any band of persons traveling together," then "a criminal gang or company" (gang of thieves, gang of roughs, etc.). By 1855 gang was being used in the sense "group of criminal or mischievous boys in a city." In American English, especially of slaves working on plantations (1724). Also formerly used of animal herds or flocks (17c.-19c.). Gangway preserves the original sense of the word, as does gang-plank.
gang (v.)
1856, from gang (n.). Related: Ganged; ganging. To gang up (on) is attested by 1919.
