-gate
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English
Etymology 1
Back-formation from Watergate, an American political scandal from 1972–1974 which led to resignation of president Richard Nixon. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the suffix first appeared in a 1973 article in the National Lampoon magazine which referenced a rumoured "Volgagate".[1] The suffix was promoted by New York Times columnist William Safire, who coined several -gate words beginning in 1974.
Suffix
-gate
- Combined with a relevant place, person, activity, etc. to form the names of scandals.
- 2022 March 30, Tatum Hunter, “How to leave a bad online review without being a jerk”, in The Washington Post[1], Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 March 2022:
- Back in college, [Maddi] Filliater said she tweeted at a local sandwich shop about some alleged brown lettuce, and the business responded angrily: Why didn't she bring up the problem in person instead of attacking them on the Internet? Her friends refer to the incident as "LettuceGate."
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations
component in names of scandals
See also
Etymology 2
From Old English geat.
Suffix
-gate
- Used to form place names.
References
- ^ “gate, combform.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
Further reading
- “-gate”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- “-gate”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- “-gate”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Anagrams
French
Etymology
Borrowed from English -gate, from Watergate.
Pronunciation
Suffix
-gate m (plural -gates)
- -gate (forms names of scandals)
- 2012 June 8, “Up & Down”, in Grazia:
- C’est un quasi «currygate» qu’a provoqué Kim en confessant son dégoût de la nourriture indienne.
- Kim Kardashian triggered a virtual ‘currygate’ by confessing her dislike of Indian food.
Derived terms
German
Etymology
Borrowed from English -gate, from Watergate.
Pronunciation
Suffix
-gate n
- -gate (forms names of scandals)
Derived terms
Categories:
- English back-formations
- English lemmas
- English suffixes
- English terms with quotations
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- French terms borrowed from English
- French terms derived from English
- French 1-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French lemmas
- French suffixes
- French noun-forming suffixes
- French countable nouns
- French masculine suffixes
- French terms with quotations
- German terms borrowed from English
- German terms derived from English
- German 1-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio links
- German lemmas
- German suffixes
- German noun-forming suffixes
- German neuter suffixes