yield

Pronunciation

• IPA: /jiːld/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English yelden, inherited from Old English ġieldan (“to pay, repay; reward; worship, sacrifice to”) (Anglian geldan),^[2][3][4][5] from Proto-Germanic *geldaną (“to pay”),^[3][4] source also of Old Saxon geldan, to be worth, Dutch gelden (“to be worth, concern”), German gelten, Old Norse gjalda (“to repay”) and Gothic fra-gildan,^[3][2] reconstructed from PIE Proto-Indo-European *gheldh- (“to pay”), a root found only in Germanic and Balto-Slavic.^[3] It is related to German Geld (“money”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To pay, repay, return, produce or surrender: before 1325 in Barnhart; to pay, about 725 in Beowulf.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The OED notes that the surviving senses on the Continent, to be worth, to be valid, to concern, are not represented in English;^[3] the English sense development came through its use to translate Latin reddere, French rendre.^[3] To produce or bring forth, also to give in return for labour, is from about 1300, and later of invested capital.^[3][6] To give oneself up, surrender, and to give way to superior force are also from about 1300.^[3][6] The noun first meant a payment, tax or tribute (about 950), and production of crops from the mid-15th century;^[7][3] the financial yield of an investment is from 1877.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 725 – to pay.^[2]
• c. 950 – a payment (noun).^[7]
• c. 1300 – to produce; to surrender.^[3]
• mid-15th century – a crop yield.^[3]
• 1877 – the yield of an investment.^[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To produce or provide a crop, result or profit.
2. To give way to pressure or force; to surrender or submit.
3. To give up possession of; to relinquish.
4. To give right of way to other traffic.

Noun

1. The amount produced, as of a crop.
2. The profit or income from an investment.

Word family

• yielder
• outyield
• yieldable
• unyielding
• yielding
• yield strength
• yield to maturity
• sustained yield

Related words

• geld
• guild
• wergild

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 k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b 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. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press