From Middle English geld (and reinforced by Medieval Latin geldum), both from Old English ġeld, ġield (“payment, tribute”) (which regularly yield yield), 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”) (whence apparently the otherwise irregular hard g in Middle English geld and perhaps also in Medieval Latin geldum, as opposed to the regular continuation yield from Old English). Geld is also written gelt or gild, and as such found in wergild, Danegeld, etc. Doublet of yield.
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.
Meanings
(Northern-England, archaic, countable, dialectal, historical, uncountable) Money. ▸ A payment.
(archaic, countable, dialectal, historical, uncountable) Money. ▸ In particular, (money paid as) a medieval form of land tax.
From Middle English geld (and reinforced by Medieval Latin geldum), both from Old English ġeld, ġield (“payment, tribute”) (which regularly yield yield), 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”) (whence apparently the otherwise irregular hard g in Middle English geld and perhaps also in Medieval Latin geldum, as opposed to the regular continuation yield from Old English). Geld is also written gelt or gild, and as such found in wergild, Danegeld, etc. Doublet of yield.
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.
From Middle English gelden, from Old Norse gelda (“to geld, castrate”), from Proto-Germanic *galdijaną (“to castrate”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰel- (“to cut”).
Cognate with Old Norse geldr (“yielding no milk, dry”), German galt, gelt (“not giving milk, barren”), Gothic 𐌲𐌹𐌻𐌸𐌰 (gilþa, “sickle”). Compare the archaic German Gelze (“castrated swine”) and gelzen (“to castrate”), Danish galt (“castrated boar”) (from Old Norse gǫltr (“boar, hog”), cognate with English gilt and gilde (“to geld”). "gelding" derives from Old Norse geldingr.
Meanings
A female animal, such as a ewe or cow, that is not pregnant.
From Middle English gelden, from Old Norse gelda (“to geld, castrate”), from Proto-Germanic *galdijaną (“to castrate”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰel- (“to cut”).
Cognate with Old Norse geldr (“yielding no milk, dry”), German galt, gelt (“not giving milk, barren”), Gothic 𐌲𐌹𐌻𐌸𐌰 (gilþa, “sickle”). Compare the archaic German Gelze (“castrated swine”) and gelzen (“to castrate”), Danish galt (“castrated boar”) (from Old Norse gǫltr (“boar, hog”), cognate with English gilt and gilde (“to geld”). "gelding" derives from Old Norse geldingr.
Meanings
(transitive) To castrate a male (usually an animal).
"Poor old Topaz," said Mrs Flanders, as he stretched himself out in the sun, and she smiled, thinking how she had had him gelded, and how she did not like red hair in men. 1922, Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room, Vintage Classics, paperback edition, pages 16–17:
(figuratively, transitive) To suppress or severely reduce sexual desire or libido.
Camphor if smell'd
A man will geld. 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 213:
(figuratively, transitive) To deprive of anything essential; to weaken.