EuroLex/E/Gremlin
< EuroLex
- Original language: English (maybe from Irish gruaimin 'bad-tempered little fellow')
- Original form and meaning: 1) 'an imaginary creature responsible for mechanical faults', 2) 'a figure from a movie of the same name', 3) 'a small toy-figure'
(Note: If the status is not specifically indicated then the word is stylistically neutral and generally used; if earlier meaning and status equals current use the former may be expressed by writing "dito". Cf. also the project guidelines.)
| Language | Form | Date of Borrowing (and Obsolescence) | Current Meaning and Status | Earlier Meanings and Statusses | Source |
| Catalan | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Croatian | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Czech | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Danish | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Dutch | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| English | gremlin | oral use in R.A.F. aviators' slang from Malta, Middle East and India said to date to 1923; first printed use perhaps in poem in journal "Aeroplane" April 10, 1929; certainly in use by 1941, and popularized in World War II and picked up by Americans (e.g. "New York Times" Magazine April 11, 1943); possibly from a dialectal survival of O.E. gremman 'to anger, vex' + -lin of goblin; or from Ir. gruaimin 'bad-tempered little fellow'; Surfer slang for 'young surfer, beach trouble-maker' is from 1961 | see above | [1] | |
| Estonian | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Finnish | gremlin [= English pronunciation] | ? | meaning 2, but known mainly to bilinguals | dito | DEA* |
| French | gremlin | ... | meaning 1, but known mainly to bilinguals | dito | DEA* |
| Frisian | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| German | Gremlin [= Engl. pron.] | 1980s | meanings 2 and 3, restricted to technical use | dito | DEA* |
| Hungarian | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Irish | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Italian | gremlin [= English pronunciation] | 1990s | meaning 2; status: restricted use | dito | DEA* |
| Latvian | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Lithuanian | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Maltese | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Norwegian | gremlin [= Engl. pron.] | 1980s | meaning 2, restricted to youth language, obsolete | dito | DEA* |
| Polish | gremlin | end20c | meaning 1, restricted to colloquial language | dito | DEA* |
| Portuguese | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Rumantsch | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Slovak | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Slovenian | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Spanish | gremlin['gremlin] | 1980s | meaning 2, status: restricted to technical use, rare | dito | DEA* |
| Swedish | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
- Annotations: *DEA = Dictionary of European Anglicisms by Manfred Görlach (2001), Oxford: OUP.
- Information on Other Languages: Icelandic: gremlin [= Engl. pron.], 1980s, meaning 2 and 3, restricted to youth language, obsolete; Russian: grimli, 1990s; meaning 2, restricted to youth and colloquial language; Greek: gremlins, end20c; meaning 2 and 3, but restricted to colloquial and modish use,