1) From a word of French origin which meant ‘to throw’. It referred in particular to the projecting upper storeys of timber buildings.
1338 gettes et efsdropes , York. The deed in which this reference occurs had to do with an upper room in a congested part of the city, and similar documents indicate that the dimensions of any overhanging storey were a matter for concern. In 1418, a property in Peasholm occupied a site on the side of St Cuthbert’s churchyard and those who were seeking to build houses on the plot were given the right to a gette of reasonable size into the churchyard. In Beverley, as late as 1690, there was a penalty of Ł20 for any person who encroached on the street by building up to the outend of the geetyes . There were other meanings: a ‘jetty’ could be an internal feature of a building as the following bequest proves: 1578 To my brother Richard a jettie and a mowsteade in my overbarne, Newton in Bowland. In other contexts a ‘jetty’ could be part of complicated river defences, e.g. 1717 For making a getty in the water and cutting a cut through the stonery … to be wear’d on each side , Hampsthwaite. It is difficult to be certain of the exact meaning in this extract but it occurred in a bridge-builder’s estimate so it is worth noting that the OED has ‘jetty’ from 1772 in the sense of ‘starling’, that is stonework surrounding a bridge pier. In 1554, Bridlington pier was being repaired after an October storm and enough timber had been saved by the diligence of the townsmen to construct the sonken Joties which be moost necessary defences between the mayne pere and the Sourge of the See . It was used even earlier as an alternative to ‘quay’: 1489 the Getye and Key of our towne of Scarborow .