late 14c., "jest, joke, prank, trick;" also "fraud, deception, trick, artifice." Also "large, ornamental bead in a rosary" (mid-14c.); a bauble, trinket, plaything" (mid-15c.). In some senses, from gaudy (n.) (see gaudy). In some, from Latin gaudium "joy," gaude "rejoice thou" (in hymns), or from Old French gaudie, noun of action from gaudir. As a verb, "to furnish with gauds," from late 14c. Related: Gauded; gauding.