More on Verbs From Nouns
In a previous post, we covered the bad tendency to make a verb out of a noun (action, credential, reference, task and others of this misbegotten brood).
One verb-from-noun that may be OK is gift.
It doesn’t mean anything that give doesn’t, so arguably there is no real need for it – but some lawyers like to use it for things like donations. Does gift sound more formal and legal/technical than plain old give? Perhaps, but that’s not good reason to use it.
Gift as a verb does have a fairly long history, going back to the sixteenth century. And it is natural to talk about someone as being gifted with some sort of skill or talent.
In the gift-bestowing, present-making sense, the OED suggests the verb is ‘chiefly Scottish’, and most of the examples of usage are in fact from Scots legal sources.
Use gift as a verb if you must, but you might be better just to give.
Start the discussion!