Gaslighting

Gaslighting
The term gaslighting is from Gaslight, a 1944 psychological thriller set in the 19th century about a married woman who has inherited a valuable estate. In the house in which she and her husband are living, the woman is plagued by irritating noises from the boarded-up attic. She also notices that the gaslights in the house often dim and then become bright again for no apparent reason.
 
Her husband assures her that this is only her imagination. However, he is slowly manipulating her into believing that she is descending into insanity. He wants to have her institutionalized in order to take control of her estate. He is one who is creating these noises and flickering lights.
 
The film received seven Academy Awards nominations, including one for Best Picture.
 
The first known use of the term gaslighting for such psychological manipulation was in 1961.
 
Gaslighting was the Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s Word of the Year for 2022.
 
Gas
The word gas has its origins in Greek khaos (empty space; chaos, the confused unorganized state of primordial matter before the creation of forms). The word gas, first used by the Flemish chemist J.B. van Helmont (1577 – 1644), appears in English in the 1650s. The modern scientific use of the word gas as one of the four basic states of matter began in 1779; e.g., natural gas (primarily methane), laughing gas (nitrous oxide), carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and others.
 
Light(ing)
The word light has its origins in Proto-Indo-European (PIE) leuk (light, brightness) and Old English leht (brightness, radiant energy, that which makes things visible). The word lighting appears in English before the 12th century.
 
Gas lighting
As early as 1801, gas was being used to illuminate lamps in houses and gardens. In 1806, some streets in Salford, Lancashire, UK are thought to be where gas was first used for street lighting anywhere in the world.
 
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Speaking of Greek khaos (chaos), the opposite term is kosmos (order; the ordered cosmos). Cosmos is the origin of the word cosmetic—a product which brings order to the chaos of a face! But that’s another story.
 
Reference: Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
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