Dictionary

girdle en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ˈɡɜːdl̩/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈɡɝdl̩/ (General-American)

Etymology

From Middle English girdel, gerdel, gurdel, from Old English gyrdel, from Proto-West Germanic *gurdil, from Proto-Germanic *gurdilaz (“girdle, belt”), equivalent to gird + -le. Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Gäddel (“belt”), West Frisian gurdle, gurle, gurl (“belt”), Dutch gordel (“belt”), German Gürtel (“belt”), Yiddish גאַרטל (gartl, “belt”) (whence gartel, a doublet of girdle), Swedish gördel (“girdle”), Icelandic gyrðill (“girdle”).

Meanings

1. That which girds, encircles, or encloses; a circumference.
   • Suppose within the girdle of these walls Are now confin'd two mighty monarchies 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, prologue]:
   • In yonder pensile orb, and every sphere that gems the starry girdle of the year 1799, Thomas Campbell, Pleasures of Hope:
   • from the world's girdle to the frozen pole 1782, William Cowper, Expostulation:
   • the girdle of the world
2. A belt or sash at the waist, often used to support stockings or hosiery.
   • O Queen, most exalted of Persia's deep-girdled women, venerable mother of Xerxes, wife of Darius, all hail! Aeschylus, The Persians 155
   • Her little chambers drip with flower-like red, Her girdles, and the chaplets of her head, Her armlets and her anklets; with her feet She tramples all that winepress of the dead. 1862-1866, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Laus Veneris:
   • And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 15:6:
   • She therefore assumed the novice's garb, so universally worn by young Italians—a robe of black silk, only fastened round the waist by a girdle. 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIV, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 109:
   • Tradition credits John the Baptist with wearing a girdle fashioned of wormwood, while he was in the wilderness. 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 1:
3. A garment used to hold the abdomen, hips, buttocks, and/or thighs in a particular shape.
4. The line of greatest circumference of a brilliant-cut diamond, at which it is grasped by the setting.
5. A thin bed or stratum of stone.
6. The clitellum of an earthworm.
7. The removal or inversion of a ring of bark in order to kill or stunt a tree.

Forms

Deriveds

begirdle · Girdle Ness · limb girdle syndrome · peel girdle · engirdle · girdlelike · mirdle · athlete's girdle · notch girdle · pectoral girdle · girdle scone · pelvic girdle · girdle traverse · shoulder girdle · breast-girdle · Venus girdle · panty girdle · Venus's girdle · girdlestead

Translations (67)

fr rondiste (line of greatest circumference of a diamond) · ota كمر (belt) · it fascia (belt) · fi uuma (line of greatest circumference of a diamond) · ca faixa (belt) · de Hüfthalter (belt) · rgn pazenzia (belt) · ro centură (belt) · scn cursettu (belt) · scn cinta (line of greatest circumference of a diamond) · fr enceinte (circumference) · cs podvazkový pás (belt) · fi sukkanauhavyö (belt) · nl rondist (line of greatest circumference of a diamond) · ja ガードル (belt) · rgn pazénzia (belt) · gl cincho (circumference) · da strømpeholder (belt) · da hofteholder (belt) · es faja (belt) · nv sis (belt) · bg окръжение (circumference) · la balteus (belt) · it corsetto (belt) · ota نطاق (belt) · la zōna (belt) · it busto (belt) · ru по́яс (belt) · ka გარშემოწერილობა (circumference) · nl gordel (belt) · la zōnula (belt) · mi tātua (belt) · el ζώνη (belt) · pdt Gort (belt) · cmn 束腰 (belt) · fi vyö (belt) · tr kemer (belt) · ka სარტყელი (belt) · ckb کەمەربەند (belt) · scn cintu (line of greatest circumference of a diamond) · mi tautiti (belt) · sq rrip (belt) · fr gaine (belt) · grc κεστός (belt) · el περιφέρεια (circumference) · fa کمربند (belt) · grc ζώνη (belt) · fi kehä (circumference) · xcl կամար (belt) · el περίζωμα (belt) · scn cinta (belt) · ru по́яс для чуло́к (belt) · yue 束腰 (belt) · sv gördel (belt) · mi pongi (belt) · pt cinta (belt) · fi reunus (line of greatest circumference of a diamond) · pt cinto (belt) · bg пояс (belt) · it cintura (line of greatest circumference of a diamond) · cs pás (belt) · la cinctus (belt) · la cingulum (belt) · it cintura (belt) · sq qarku (circumference) · bg колан (belt) · mi pihepihe (belt)

girdle en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ˈɡɜːdl̩/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈɡɝdl̩/ (General-American)

Etymology

From Middle English girdel, gerdel, gurdel, from Old English gyrdel, from Proto-West Germanic *gurdil, from Proto-Germanic *gurdilaz (“girdle, belt”), equivalent to gird + -le. Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Gäddel (“belt”), West Frisian gurdle, gurle, gurl (“belt”), Dutch gordel (“belt”), German Gürtel (“belt”), Yiddish גאַרטל (gartl, “belt”) (whence gartel, a doublet of girdle), Swedish gördel (“girdle”), Icelandic gyrðill (“girdle”).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To gird, encircle, or constrain by such means.
   • The Equator, as everyone knows, is an imaginary line or circle girdling the Earth half-way between the North and South poles. 1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds: Their Origin and Meaning, page 36:
2. (transitive) To kill or stunt a tree by removing or inverting a ring of bark.
   • The ordinary large reddish "hen hawks," which circle high above meadows, are doing great good to the farmer by feeding upon the mice and other creatures which steal his grain and girdle his trees. 1911, Anna Botsford Comstock, Handbook of Nature Study, 24th edition, published 1939, page 108:

Forms

Deriveds

ungirdle · girdler

Translations (16)

ka გარშემორტყმა (to gird, encircle, or constrain by such means) · cs obklíčit (to gird, encircle, or constrain by such means) · cs obkroužit (to gird, encircle, or constrain by such means) · it circondare (to gird, encircle, or constrain by such means) · it cingere (to gird, encircle, or constrain by such means) · bg опасвам (to gird, encircle, or constrain by such means) · fi piirittää (to gird, encircle, or constrain by such means) · el ζώνω (to gird, encircle, or constrain by such means) · fi kaulata (to kill or stunt a tree by removing or inverting a ring of bark) · cs opásat (to gird, encircle, or constrain by such means) · bg препасвам (to gird, encircle, or constrain by such means) · el περιζώνω (to gird, encircle, or constrain by such means) · fi ympäröidä (to gird, encircle, or constrain by such means) · ka გარშემოხვევა (to gird, encircle, or constrain by such means) · ota صارمق (to gird, encircle, or constrain by such means) · fi reunustaa (to gird, encircle, or constrain by such means)

girdle en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• /ˈɡɜːdl̩/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈɡɝdl̩/ (General-American)

Meanings

1. (Northern-English, Scotland, alt-of, alternative) Alternative form of griddle.
   alt of griddle

Forms