- gorge (n.)
- mid-14c., "throat," from Old French gorge "throat; a narrow passage" (12c.), from Late Latin gurges "gullet, throat, jaws," also "gulf, whirlpool," which probably is related to Latin gurgulio "gullet, windpipe," from a reduplicated form of PIE *gwere- (4) "to swallow" (see voracity). Transferred sense of "deep, narrow valley" was in Old French. From 1520s as "what has been swallowed," hence in figurative phrases indicating nauseating disgust.
- gorge (v.)
- c. 1300, "eat greedily, swallow by gulps," from Old French gorgier "to swallow" (13c.), from gorge "throat" (see gorge (n.)). Transitive sense from late 15c. Related: Gorged; gorging.
