gird en · VERB · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /ɡɝd/ (US)
- /ɡɜːd/ (Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
From Middle English girden, gerden, gürden, from Old English gyrdan (“to put a belt around, to put a girdle around”), from Proto-Germanic *gurdijaną (“to gird”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰerdʰ-. Cognate with West Frisian gurdzje, girdzje, Dutch gorden, German gürten, Swedish gjorda, Icelandic gyrða, Albanian ngërthej (“to tie together by weaving, to bind”).
Meanings
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(transitive) To bind with a flexible rope or cord.
The fasces were girt about with twine in bundles large.
Gird thy sword vpon thy thigh, O most mightie: with thy glory and thy maiestie.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 45:3:We heere create thee the firſt Duke of Suffolke, / And girt thee with the Sword. Coſin of Yorke
1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 120, column 2:
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(transitive) To encircle with, or as if with a belt.
Australia's sons, let us rejoice, / For we are young and free / We've golden soil and wealth for toil / Our home is girt by sea
1878, Peter Dodds McCormick, “Advance Australia Fair”:And he put vpon him the coate, and girded him with the girdle, and clothed him with the robe, and put the Ephod vpon him, and he girded him with the curious girdle of the Ephod, and bound it vnto him therewith.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Leviticus 8:7:The region of bliss is adorned all o'er With dinars, with rich stuffs, and with all costly store; The idol-adorers with fine gold are crowned, And girdles of gold gird the heroes renowned.
1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 556:The lady girt herself with silver chain, from which she hung a golden shear.
It took me back across the dim gulf of ages to some happy home in dead Imperial Kôr, where this winsome lady girt about with beauty had lived and died, and dying taken her last-born with her to the tomb.
1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:a castle girded with a moat
He slithers like a limbo dancer under alder thickets girding the cliff faces. Trailing diamond sprays of ice, he glissades fearlessly across snowfields that plunge into blue infinity.
2026 February 27, Paul Salopek, “Hazard Cascade”, in National Geographic:
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(reflexive, transitive) To prepare (oneself) for an action.
[…] I was intrigued by the notion of ‘virtual beating’, so I entered the words in the Mamma search engine. I girded myself for the sleaziest sites on the net, the kind that advertise the video of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee uncut, […]
2000 April 15, Tanya Millbank, “The net addict”, in The Guardian:Associate your selues, O ye people, and yee shalbe broken in pieces; and giue eare all ye of farre countreys: gird your selues, and ye shalbe broken in pieces; gird your selues, and ye shalbe broken in pieces.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 8:9:The remarks came just days after Putin appeared to be girding Russians for a protracted war in Ukraine, saying that his military operation could be a “long-term process”.
2022 December 9, Andrew Roth, “Putin suggests possibility of settlement to end war in Ukraine”, in The Guardian:The poet is not trying to conform to any of the old standards of behavior. She is instead focusing her rage and girding herself for battle.
1979 December 15, Stephanie Byrd, “An Injection of Spirit”, in Gay Community News, volume 7, number 21, page 10:
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(intransitive) (of a vessel towing another) To be pulled on sideways by its towline, putting it at risk of capsizing.
On 19 July 2009, the tug North Arm Venture was towing the barge North Arm Express, loaded with fuel and deck cargo, from Toba Inlet to Sechelt Inlet. The tug girded and capsized at approximately 1250 Pacific Daylight Time while making a turn to port at the entrance to Sechelt Rapids .... Girding is defined as a situation where a vessel experiences athwartship forces from its towline. This situation can lead to a capsizing or foundering.
2010, Transportation Safety Board of Canada, Marine Investigation Report M09W0141
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| girding | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| girds | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| girt | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| girt | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| girded | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| girded | Tense=Past | lexicographic |
Deriveds
overgird · ungird · undergird · begird · upgird · engird
Relateds
girt · girder · girdle · gird up one's loins · gird one's loins
Synonyms
Translations (54)
it cingere circondare (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · it legare allaciare (to bind with a flexible rope or cord) · mi rāpaki (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · de angurten (to bind with a flexible rope or cord) · sv omgärda (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · es ceñir (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · ka გარშემოხვევა (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · sv omgjorda (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · ru подпоя́сывать (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · grc ζώννυμι (to bind with a flexible rope or cord) · ru свя́зывать (to bind with a flexible rope or cord) · sv binda (to bind with a flexible rope or cord) · cs obklopovat (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · ru опоя́сывать (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · ru связа́ть (to bind with a flexible rope or cord) · es aprestarse (to prepare oneself) · mi whawhe (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · ru окружа́ть (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · fi sitoa (to bind with a flexible rope or cord) · grc ζώννυμι (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · de umringen (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · ru подпоя́сать (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · ru огораживать (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · es cercar (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · fi vyöttää (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · de anbinden (to bind with a flexible rope or cord) · cs připravit se (to prepare oneself) · ru охва́тывать (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · uk підперізувати (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · ka მიმაგრება (to bind with a flexible rope or cord) · it cinturare (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · fr lier ceindre garrotter ligaturer (to bind with a flexible rope or cord) · sv bunta (to bind with a flexible rope or cord) · cs opásat (to bind with a flexible rope or cord) · es encerrar (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · ka შემორტყმა (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · de rüsten (to prepare oneself) · la-med balteō (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · bg опасвам (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · sv spänna (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · es ligar (to bind with a flexible rope or cord) · ota صارمق (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · es atar (to bind with a flexible rope or cord) · ga timpeallaigh (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · ka გარშემორტყმა (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · cs nachystat se (to prepare oneself) · ru окаймлять (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · bg окръжавам (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · cs obklopit (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · sv omringa (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · mi whītiki (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · es rodear (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · fi ympäröidä (to encircle with, or as if with a belt) · bg запасвам (to bind with a flexible rope or cord)