Gadling

Origin

From Middle English gadling ("companion in arms; man, fellow; a person of low birth; rascal, scoundrel; bastard; base, lowborn"), from Old English geaduling, gædeling ("kinsman, fellow, companion in arms, comrade"), from Proto-Germanic *gadulingaz, *gadilingaz ("relative, kinsman"), equivalent to gad + -ling. Related to Old English gāda ("comrade, companion").

Full definition of gadling

Noun

1. roving vagabond; one who roams
• 1947 , Thomas Bertram Costain , The Moneyman Chapter , I'm delighted to see you. You're as brown, my gadling, as though you had returned from another journey to the East with Jean de Village.
2. A man of humble condition; a fellow; a low fellow; lowborn; originally comrade or companion, in a good sense, but later used in reproach
• 1906 , Rudyard Kipling , Puck of Pook's Hill Chapter , “Pest on him!” said De Aquila. “I have more to do than to shiver in the Great Hall for every gadling the King sends. Left he no word?”
3. A spike on a gauntlet; a gad.