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Million Of Geese, Missouri, United States
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Etymology
The word Goose is a direct descendant of Proto-Indo-European root, ghans-. In Germanic languages, the root gave Old English gōs with the plural gēs and gandra (becoming Modern English goose, geese, and gander, respectively), New High German Gans, Gänse, and Ganter and Old Norse gās. This term also gave Lithuanian žąsìs, Irish gé (goose, from Old Irish géiss), Latin anser, Greek chēn, Albanian gatë (heron), Sanskrit hans, Avestan zāō, Polish gęś, Russian гусь, Czech husa, Slovak hus, and Persian ghāz.
The term goose applies to the female in particular while gander applies to the male in particular. Young birds before fledging are called goslings. A group of geese on the ground is called a gaggle; when geese fly in formation, they are called a wedge or a skein.
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