gape: [13] Gape and the related gap [14] are of Scandinavian origin. English borrowed the verb from Old Norse gapa ‘open the mouth’, which survives in modern Scandinavian languages as Swedish gapa and Danish gabe. Old Norse gap ‘chasm’ (source of Swedish gap ‘mouth’ and Danish gab ‘opening, open mouth’) was originally taken over by English in the specific sense ‘hole in a wall or hedge’; the broader modern range of meanings began to emerge in the 16th century. => gap, yawn
early 13c., from an unrecorded Old English word or else from Old Norse gapa "to open the mouth wide, gape" (see gap (n.)). Related: Gaped; gaping. As a noun, "act of opening the mouth," from 1530s.
