geld
Plural: gelds
Verb
Verb Forms: gelded, gelding, gelds
- To castrate an animal.
- cut off the testicles (of male animals such as horses)
- "the vet gelded the young horse"
- To tax geld.
- To castrate a male (usually an animal).
- To deprive of anything essential; to weaken.
Noun
- Money.
- A payment.
- Money.
- In particular, (money paid as) a medieval form of land tax.
- A female animal, such as a ewe or cow, that is not pregnant.
Examples
- I managed to GELD my opponent’s chances of winning with a well-placed word.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English geld and reinforced by Medieval Latin geldum, both from Old English geld, ġield (“payment, tribute”), from Proto-West Germanic *geld, from Proto-Germanic *geldą (“reward, gift, money”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeldʰ- (“to pay”). Probably reinforced by gelt (which see), see Norwegian Bokmål gjeld (“debt”), Danish gæld (“debt”). Geld is also written gelt or gild, and as such found in wergild, Danegeld, etc.
Cognates
Cognate with North Frisian jild (“money”), Saterland Frisian Jield, Jäild (“money”), Dutch geld (“money”), German Geld (“money”), Old Norse gjald (“payment”), Gothic 𐌲𐌹𐌻𐌳 (gild, “tribute”). Also related to English yield.
Synonyms
Scrabble Score: 6
geld: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordgeld: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
geld: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary