GOSSIP (from the O.E. godsibb, i.e.

See also:

• GOD

God, and sib, akin,

See also:

• STANDING

standing in relation to)  , originally a god-parent, i.e. one who by taking a sponsor's vows at a baptism stands in a spiritual relationship to the child baptized . The common modern meaning is of light personal or social conversation, or, with an invidious sense, of idle tale-bearing . "Gossip" was early used with the sense of a friend or acquaintance, either of .the parent of the child` baptized or of the other god-parents, and thus came to be used, with little reference to the position of sponsor, for women friends of the mother present at a birth; the transition of meaning to an idle chatterer or talker for talking's sake is easy . The application to the idle talk of such persons does not appear to be an early one .