-gate

See also: gate, Gate, GATE, gâte, gatë, gåte, gatě, and gâté

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 Nation Lampoon magazine which referenced a rumoured "Volgagate". The suffix was promoted by New York Times columnist William Safire, who coined several -gate words beginning in 1974.

Suffix

-gate

1. 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

English terms suffixed with -gate

Descendants

• → Chinese: 門／门 (mén) (calque)
  • → Mandarin: 門／门 (mén) (calque)
• → French: -gate
• → German: -gate
• → Korean: 게이트 (geiteu)

Translations

component in names of scandals

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 門／门 (zh) (mén)

• French: -gate (fr) m
• German: -gate (de) n
• Italian: -opoli f
• Korean: 게이트 (geiteu)
• Portuguese: -ão (pt) m

Etymology 2

From Old English geat.

Suffix

-gate

1. Used to form place names.

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

• EGTA, ETag, Geat, e-tag, geat, geta

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English -gate, from Watergate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡet/

Suffix

-gate m (plural -gates)

1. -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

French terms suffixed with -gate

German

Etymology

Borrowed from English -gate, from Watergate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɛɪ̯t/, /ɡeːt/

• Audio

  (file)

Suffix

-gate n

1. -gate (forms names of scandals)

Derived terms

German terms suffixed with -gate