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geld1

[geld]
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verb (used with object), geld·ed or gelt, geld·ing.
  1. to castrate (an animal, especially a horse).
  2. to take strength, vitality, or power from; weaken or subdue.

Origin of geld1

1250–1300; Middle English gelden < Old Norse gelda
Related formsgeld·er, nounun·geld·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for gelded

Historical Examples

  • "Some of you maverick psis scream like a gelded porker," he said.

    Card Trick

    Walter Bupp AKA Randall Garrett

  • This is as apparent in cattle as in eunuchs or gelded horses.

  • Tantone then is valued as a whole and it has gelded as a whole.

    Domesday Book and Beyond

    Frederic William Maitland

  • He gelded the boy Sporus, and endeavoured to transform him into a woman.

  • Those that live by agriculture should not allow a bull to be gelded.

British Dictionary definitions for gelded

geld1

verb gelds, gelding, gelded or gelt (tr)
  1. to castrate (a horse or other animal)
  2. to deprive of virility or vitality; emasculate; weaken
Derived Formsgelder, noun

Word Origin

C13: from Old Norse gelda, from geldr barren

geld2

noun
  1. a tax on land levied in late Anglo-Saxon and Norman England

Word Origin

Old English gield service, tax; related to Old Norse gjald tribute, Old Frisian jeld, Old High German gelt retribution, income
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for gelded

geld

n.

"royal tax in medieval England," Old English gield "payment, tribute," from Proto-Germanic *geldam "payment" (cf. Middle High German gelt "payment, contribution," German geld "money," Old Norse gjald "payment," Gothic gild "tribute, tax"), from PIE root of yield (v.).

geld

v.

"to castrate," c.1300, from Old Norse gelda "castrate" from geldr "barren," from Proto-Germanic *galdu-, from PIE *ghel- "to cut." Related: Gelded. Cf. Old Norse geldr "yielding no milk, dry," Old High German galt "barren," said of a cow.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper