gʰeh₁-bʰ-
“to grasp, to take”grab, seize, take hold
Related to the give/take root complex in Germanic and Italic.
Discussion
The PIE root *gʰeh₁-bʰ- (to grasp, to seize, to take hold) produced vocabulary for taking, having, and giving across the Germanic and Celtic branches.
English give (OE giefan, from PGmc *gebaną) and gift (OE gift, from PGmc *giftiz) may descend from this root — see the separate treatment at *gʰeh₁bʰ- for the full discussion of the seizing-giving duality.
More securely, English have (OE habban) is sometimes connected to this root through the concept of having-grasped: to have is the state resulting from having seized. German haben (to have) and the Gothic form confirm the Germanic distribution.
Latin habēre (to have, to hold) — if from this root — gave English: habit (a condition one holds/has), habitation (a place where one has settled), inhabit (to have/hold within), exhibit (to hold out for display), prohibit (to hold before — to prevent), and ability (habilitās, the condition of having the power to act).
Old Irish gaibid ("he takes, he seizes") preserves the Celtic reflex with the original grasping sense.
The root connects to *kap- (to seize — see the capture/capable root) as part of the PIE vocabulary of taking. Where *kap- emphasised forceful seizure, *gʰeh₁-bʰ- may have emphasised the resultant state of having.
Notes
Compare *gheh1bh-.