Did you know?
Merriam-Webster here, your one and only source for the juicy history of the English lexicon (including gossip, girl). It’s no secret that gossiping often involves discussing the intimate details of other people’s lives, but did you know that the origins of gossip are a bit more chummy, and even a tad divine? Word on the street is that the Old English word sibb, meaning “relative” or “kinsman,” long ago combined with the word god (meaning, well, “god”) to form godsibb, which referred to a person who was spiritually related to another, specifically by being a baptismal sponsor. Today we call such a person a godparent. Over the centuries, godsibb changed both in form and in meaning. In Middle English, gossib came to be used for a close friend or chum as well as for a godparent. From there it was only a short step to gossip, a word for anyone—not just a friend, relative, or sponsor—known for spilling the tea. By the early 17th century, gossip had expanded into the verb use that has been the talk of the town ever since.
Did you know?
Old English sibb, meaning “relative” or “kinsman,” came from the adjective sibb, “related by blood” (the ancestor of modern English sibling). Old English godsibb was a person spiritually related to another, specifically by being a sponsor at baptism. Today we call such a person a godparent. Over the centuries, godsibb changed both in form and in meaning. Middle English gossib came to be used for a close friend or crony as well as for a godparent. From there it was only a short step to the gossip of today, a person no longer necessarily friend, relative, or sponsor, but someone filled with irresistible tidbits of rumor.
Examples of gossip in a Sentence
Ezra Fox
july 14, Literary Hub, 14 July 2025
More gossip was unleashed when Albert was photographed with his son Alexandre Grimaldi, daughter Jazmin Grace Grimaldi and Nicole Coste, Alexandre’s mother, in 2023.
—Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 14 July 2025
Daniel Dockery, Vulture, 7 July 2025
Our after should include shaking a**, gossiping with friends, drinking cocktails, lip-syncing to a favorite song—staring into the strobe lights, feeling alive, fully bodied, transcendent.
—Marcos Gonsalez, Time, 12 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for gossip
Cite this Entry
“Gossip.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gossip. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
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