# gau
## English
### Etymology 1
#### Alternative forms

* ghau

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɡaʊ/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -aʊ
* Homophone: Gow

#### Noun

gau (plural gaus)
* (Tibetan Buddhism) A prayer box or small container worn as jewelry and containing an amulet or similar item.

### Etymology 2

From either Hokkien 厚 (kāu, “thick”) or Teochew 厚 (gao$^6$, “thick”), influenced in spelling by Mandarin Pinyin.

#### Alternative forms

* gao, kau

#### Pronunciation

* (Singapore) IPA: [k˭aʊ˨]

#### Adjective

gau (not comparable)
* (Singapore, colloquial, of coffee) Strong (used as a modifier after kopi (“coffee”)).
    Kopi Gau ― Strong coffee with sugar and condensed milk
* (Singapore, colloquial, more generally, less common) Thick; having a strong or overwhelming flavour.
** 2019 August 24, Yeo Boon Ping, quoting Zachary Tang, “If Zi Char Dishes Were In A Battle Royale, Which Would Come Out Tops?”, in ricemedia.co‎, archived from the original on 12 July 2024:But for all the eggs and liao (ingredients) you have, it isn’t gao (strong).

##### Related terms

* C
* di lo
* gah dai
* kosong
* O
* peng
* po
* siew dai

### Etymology 3
#### Noun

gau
* Alternative form of jow (“pre-metric unit of length in India”)

### Anagrams

* AGU, Aug, Aug., GUA, UGA, aug

## Basque
### Alternative forms

* gai

### Etymology

Unknown.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɡau̯/ [ɡau̯]
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -au̯
* Hyphenation: gau

### Noun

gau inan
* night

#### Derived terms

* gabon (“good night”)
* gauenara
* gauerdi
* gauero (“every night”)
* gaur (“today”)

#### Descendants

* → Gascon: gaüs, gahús, guèhus, guehús, cahús, caüs, gohús

## French
### Alternative forms

* gaut, go

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɡo/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -o

### Noun

gau m (plural gaux)
* (slang) louse

## Kalo Finnish Romani
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈɡɑu]

### Noun

gau m (nominative plural gaave)
* village

### References

* 1 2 Kimmo Granqvist (2002) “Finnish Romani Phonology and Dialect Geography”, in SKY Journal of Linguistics‎, volume 15, Linguistic Association of Finland, archived from the original on January 28, 2022, pages 61-83
* ↑ Kimmo Granqvist (2011) “Diftongit ja vokaaliyhtymät”, in Lyhyt Suomen romanikielen kielioppi [Consice grammar of Finnish Romani]‎ (in Finnish), Helsinki: Institute for the Languages of Finland, →ISBN, →ISSN, retrieved February 10, 2022, page 5

### Further reading

* Kimmo Granqvist (2011) “Eräitä keskeisiä äännevaihteluja”, in Lyhyt Suomen romanikielen kielioppi [Consice grammar of Finnish Romani]‎ (in Finnish), Helsinki: Institute for the Languages of Finland, →ISBN, →ISSN, retrieved February 10, 2022, page 12

## Latin
### Etymology

Poetic clipping of gaudium. Attributed to Ennius (circa 200 BCE) by the poet Ausonius in his catalogue of monosyllabic Latin words, never attested directly.

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈɡai̯/, [ˈɡäi̯]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈɡaj/, [ˈɡäj]

### Noun

gau n (indeclinable) (archaic, poetic, hapax)
* Clipping of gaudium (“joy”).
** c. 310 CE – c. 395 CE, Ausonius, Technopaegnion 144:
    Ennius ut memorat, repleat te laetificum gau.
       As Ennius says, may gladdening joy fill you.

#### Declension

Indeclinable noun.

#### References

* “gau”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* gau in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
* “gau” in volume 6, part 2, column 1701, line 34 in the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae (TLL Open Access), Berlin (formerly Leipzig): De Gruyter (formerly Teubner), 1900–present

## Low German
### Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *ganhuz, *ganhwaz (“sudden, quick”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Dutch gauw (“quickly”), German jäh (“sudden, abrupt”). More at gay.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɡaʊ̯/

### Adjective

gau
* quick

## Niuean
### Verb

gau
* chew

#### Derived terms

* gagau

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Etymology

From Old Norse gauð.

### Noun

gau n (definite singular gauet, indefinite plural gau, definite plural gaua)
* a bark
* (collective) barking
* noise

#### Derived terms

* gaua, gaue (verb)

### References

* “gau” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

### Anagrams

* aug, aug., uga

## Saterland Frisian
### Etymology

From Old Frisian gā, from Proto-Germanic *ganhuz. More at gay.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɣaːu̯/
* Hyphenation: gau
* Rhymes: -aːu̯

### Adverb

gau
* quickly; swiftly
* soon; at once

## Welsh
### Pronunciation

* Rhymes: -aɨ̯

### Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *gāwā (“falsehood, lie”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeH₂u- (“to be faulty, at fault, lacking”). Cognate with Cornish gow, Breton gaou; outside of Celtic, compare Latin haud (“scarcely, hardly”), Avestan 𐬔𐬀𐬎 (gau, “to commit a sin; to promote”).

#### Adjective

gau (feminine singular gau, plural geuon, equative geued, comparative geuach, superlative geuaf)
* false, fake
    Synonym: ffals

##### Derived terms

* euog (“guilty”)

#### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

### Etymology 2

Mutated form of cau (“to close”).

#### Verb

gau
* Soft mutation of cau.

#### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

### References

* R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “gau”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
* Matasović, Ranko (2009) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 154
* Cheung, Johnny (2007) Etymological Dictionary of the Iranian Verb (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 2), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 95

## West Frisian
### Etymology

From Old Frisian gā, from Proto-Germanic *ganhuz.

### Adverb

gau
* quickly
    Synonym: rap
* soon

#### Further reading

* “gau (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011