guild

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɡɪld/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English gilde, earlier yilde, inherited from Old English gegield (“guild, brotherhood”) fused with gield (“payment, tribute, offering”),^[2][3][4] with its spelling later influenced by Old Norse gildi (“guild, payment”).^[2][3][5] Hoad and the NODE take the present form from Middle Low German gilde or Middle Dutch gilde.^[4][6] All go back to Proto-Germanic *geldja- (“payment, contribution”) (see yield).^[3][4] The link is probably the payment made to join, though some see the older sense of sacrifice, a union for worship.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

An association for mutual aid, of medieval origin: before 1000 in the OED.^[7] It is in the compound Chapmanegilde probably about 1230, and as gylde before 1338.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The Anglo-Saxon guilds had a strong religious element and were burial societies.^[3] The meeting place of a guild was also called a guild,^[7] any company or fellowship from 1630,^[7] and modern associations took the name from 1827.^[7] In ecology a guild is a group of species with similar roles (1903).^[7][8] In Scotland and Northumberland a guild was an assembly of burgesses.^[9]

Timeline

• before 1000 – a guild.^[7]
• c. 1230 – Chapmanegilde.^[2]
• 1630 – any company or fellowship.^[7]
• 1827 – modern associations.^[7]
• 1903 – guild (ecology).^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An association of people of the same trade or interests, formed for mutual aid and to keep standards.
2. (history) A medieval association of merchants or craftsmen.
3. (ecology) A group of plants or species with similar habits, such as epiphytes.

Word family

• guildship

Related words

• yield
• guildhall
• geld

Usage notes

It is also spelled gild.^[10][7]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins