Editing Gossip (section)

==Etymology==
The word is from [[Old English]] ''godsibb'', from ''[[god (word)|god]]'' and ''[[sibb]]'', the term for the [[godparents]] of one's child or the parents of one's godchild, generally very close friends. In the 16th century, the word assumed the meaning of a person, mostly a woman, one who delights in idle talk, a newsmonger, a tattler.<ref>[[OED]]</ref> In the early 19th century, the term was extended from the talker to the conversation of such persons. The verb ''to gossip'', meaning "to be a gossip", first appears in [[Shakespeare]].

The term originates from the bedroom at the time of childbirth. Giving birth used to be a social event exclusively attended by women. The pregnant woman's female relatives and neighbours would congregate and idly converse. Over time, gossip came to mean talk of others.<ref>"If Walls Could Talk: The History of the Home (Bedroom), Lucy Worsley,  BBC"</ref>