Английский Этимологический словарь - gutter (n.)

- 1280, Anglo-Norman gotere, from O.Fr. guitere, from goute "a drop." Originally "a watercourse," later "furrow made by running water" (1586). Figurative sense of "low, profane" is from 1846; gutter-snipe is from 1869. The verb, of candles, refers to the channel that forms on the side as it burns down.