gieldan

Forms

ġieldan (strong class 3; third-person singular present ġielt, past singular ġeald, past plural guldon)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *geldan, from Proto-Germanic *geldaną (“to pay, be worth something”).^[1][2] The Proto-Germanic strong verb survives in Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌹𐌻𐌳𐌰𐌽 (fragildan, “to repay, compensate”), Old Norse gjalda (“to repay, pay for”), Old Saxon geldan (“to pay, reward”) and Old High German geltan (“to compensate, pay”).^[2][3] The Frisian verb is Old Frisian jelda (“to pay; to make amends”).^[4][5] It is a strong verb of the third class.^[5][6]

Outside Germanic, Orel connects it with Proto-Slavic *želsti (“to redeem”) in spite of the different suffixes.^[3] Köbler sets up a doubtful root Proto-Indo-European *gʰeldʰ- known only from Germanic and Slavic.^[5] Wiktionary notes that the Slavic verb may instead be an early borrowing from Germanic, and that Old Irish gell (“pledge”) may belong to the same root.^[1]

The West Saxon ⟨ie⟩ comes from the diphthongisation of /e/ after the palatal /j/: early *ġeldan became West Saxon ġieldan, while Mercian kept ġeldan and Northumbrian has ġelda.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is first recorded in the mid-ninth-century gloss of the Vespasian Psalter, where & gildeð him dryhten unrehtwisnisse heara renders “Et reddet illis dominus iniquitatem eorum” (Psalm 93): “and the Lord will repay them their wickedness”.^[8][9] The sense there is to requite, to give back what is deserved.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The core sense is to pay what is owed: a debt, tribute (gafol), or a legal payment such as a wergild or a fine, which makes the verb frequent in the laws.^[11][12] From paying it widens to rendering, giving back and requiting, both in reward and in punishment: in Beowulf Hrothgar repays the hero's battles mearum ond māðmum “with horses and treasures”.^[10][13] With a dative it also means to serve or worship a god or idols, to offer sacrifice.^[14][1] In glosses it renders Latin “reddere”, “retribuere” and “immolare”.^[5]

Bosworth and Toller head the verb gildan, under which they also file geldan and gyldan, but gyldan “to gild” is a separate weak verb made from gold.^[10][15] It became Middle English yelden, which took on the senses of giving up and surrendering; it lives on as the English verb yield.^[16][17]

Timeline

• s. ix med. – gildeð “will repay” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[8][9]
• 890×897 – gielden “should pay” a debt in the Pastoral Care.^[11][18]
• s. x¹ – paying tribute (gafol) in the Old English Orosius.^[11][19][9]
• s. x/xi – geald “repaid” in the Beowulf manuscript.^[20][13]

Meanings

Verb

1. to pay a debt, tribute or legal fine.^[11][5]
2. to render, give back; to requite, reward or punish.^[10][14]
3. to make good, make restitution for.^[14]
4. (with dative) to serve, worship, offer sacrifice to.^[10][1]

Word family

• āġieldan
• anġieldan
• forġieldan
• ġielda
• ġield

Descendants

• Middle English yelden (→ English yield; Scots ȝeld; Scots yeild)^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 173
3. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 130
4. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. jelda
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. gieldan
6. ^ Nerthus: An Online Lexical Database of Old English, Universidad de La Rioja, nerthusproject.com (derivational paradigms, via the Nerthus Project's open data)
7. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 216
8. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 329
9. ^ a b c Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
10. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 476
11. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 466
12. ^ Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 103
13. ^ a b Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. ġyldan
14. ^ a b c Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 96
15. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 140
16. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
17. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
18. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
19. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 249
20. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 344