guilt English · revision 7553

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|formation=inherited|attested=971}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɡɪlt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English gult, gilt, [[inh|ang|gylt|t=crime, sin, fault, fine]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) of unknown origin.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) A connection with Old English [[m|ang|gieldan|t=to pay]] has been suggested, but the OED finds it phonologically inadmissible.^(Etymonline) The -u- is an unetymological spelling, analogous to that of [[guild]], found probably before 1338 in Mannyng's Handlyng Synne.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A failure of duty, an offence, crime or sin: 971.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Responsibility for an action, the fault of someone, is from the 11th–12th century,^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986) and desert of a penalty from about 1275.^(OED 1989) The fact of having committed an offence is from about 1330,^(OED 1989) and in law the state of having committed a crime or offence wilfully from the early 14th century.^(Etymonline) The state of having wilfully offended, meriting reproach of conscience, is from about 1510.^(OED 1989) Use for the sense of guilt, considered erroneous by purists, is first recorded in 1690–91.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) ''Guilt by association'' is recorded by 1919.^(Etymonline) 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.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 971 – an offence.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1330 – the fact of guilt.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1510 – a moral state.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1690–91 – sense of guilt.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1919 – guilt by association.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1995 – the verb.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The fact of having done wrong or committed an [[offence]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Responsibility for a crime or wrongdoing that deserves a [[penalty]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A feeling of [[remorse]] for having done something wrong.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Self-reproach for a supposed failing.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bloodguilt]]

+ * [[guiltless]]

+ * [[guilt-trip]]

+ * [[guilty]]

+ * [[nonguilt]]

+ * [[survivor guilt]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}