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gumption - 4 dictionary results

gump⋅tion

  [guhmp-shuhn]
Use gumption in a Sentence
–noun Informal.
1. initiative; aggressiveness; resourcefulness: With his gumption he'll make a success of himself.
2. courage; spunk; guts: It takes gumption to quit a high-paying job.
3. common sense; shrewdness.
Origin:
1710–20; orig. Scots

Related forms:
gump⋅tion⋅less, adjective
gumptious, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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gump·tion   (gŭmp'shən)   
n.   Informal
  1. Boldness of enterprise; initiative or aggressiveness.
  2. Guts; spunk.
  3. Common sense.

[Scots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Gumption

Gump"tion\, n. [OE. gom, gome, attention; akin to AS. ge['o]mian, gyman, to regard, observe, gyme care, OS. gomean to heed, Goth. gaumjan to see, notice.]

1. Capacity; shrewdness; common sense. [Colloq.]

One does not have gumption till one has been properly cheated. --Lord Lytton.

2. (Paint.) (a) The art of preparing colors. --Sir W. Scott. (b) Megilp. --Fairholt.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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gumption 
1719, Scottish, "common sense, shrewdness," also "drive, initiative," possibly connected with M.E. gome "attention, heed," from O.N. gaumr "heed." Originally "common sense, shrewdness," sense of "initiative" is first recorded 1812.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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