Gave (placename element)

The French word gave is a generic name referring to torrential rivers, in the west side of the Pyrenees. In the central part of the Pyrenees, the name neste has the same function.

The word gave derives from the old Gascon gabar, attested as gabarrus in medieval Latin. Based on a pre-Celtic root *gab meaning 'hollow' (thus 'throat'), it refers to lower places, valleys and rivers. It is widely found in placenames of Gascony as Gabardan, Gavarret, Gavarnie, Gabas, etc. The name of the Gabali (the ancient people living in Gévaudan) is supposed to be related to this stem.

The final -r is missing because it was no more pronounced in Gascon: gabar > gabà > [ɡabɵ].