Gazette
/ɡəˈzɛt/noun
A newspaper or official journal containing news or public notices.
Did you know?The word entered English through French from Venetian *gazzetta*, the price of a small handwritten news sheet, so the name of the paper may have started as “the little coin you pay for the news.”
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Latin
Latin
gaza
“treasure, wealth; later used in some contexts for money”
Late Medieval Venetian
Venetian
gazzetta
“a small coin used to buy a news leaflet”
16th Century
Italian
gazzetta
“a news-sheet or periodical, named after the coin”
16th–17th Century
French
gazette
“a small newspaper or official news publication”
17th Century
English
gazette
“a newspaper, especially an official one”
Explore more surprising origins