Etymologically
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guilt

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 14:06. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɡɪlt/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English gult, gilt, inherited from Old English gylt (“crime, sin, fault, fine”),[2][3][4] of unknown origin.[2][3][5][6] A connection with Old English gieldan (“to pay”) has been suggested, but the OED finds it phonologically inadmissible.[3] The -u- is an unetymological spelling, analogous to that of guild, found probably before 1338 in Mannyng's Handlyng Synne.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A failure of duty, an offence, crime or sin: 971.[7][2]

Semantic evolution

Responsibility for an action, the fault of someone, is from the 11th–12th century,[7][5] and desert of a penalty from about 1275.[7] The fact of having committed an offence is from about 1330,[7] and in law the state of having committed a crime or offence wilfully from the early 14th century.[3] The state of having wilfully offended, meriting reproach of conscience, is from about 1510.[7] Use for the sense of guilt, considered erroneous by purists, is first recorded in 1690–91.[7][3] Guilt by association is recorded by 1919.[3] The verb, to influence someone by working on their sense of guilt, is by 1995, while Old English gyltan, to commit an offence, was intransitive.[3]

Timeline

  • 971 – an offence.[7]
  • c. 1330 – the fact of guilt.[7]
  • c. 1510 – a moral state.[7]
  • 1690–91 – sense of guilt.[7]
  • 1919 – guilt by association.[3]
  • 1995 – the verb.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The fact of having done wrong or committed an offence.
  2. Responsibility for a crime or wrongdoing that deserves a penalty.
  3. A feeling of remorse for having done something wrong.
  4. Self-reproach for a supposed failing.

Word family

  • bloodguilt
  • guiltless
  • guilt-trip
  • guilty
  • nonguilt
  • survivor guilt

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  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