gelt1
[gelt]
- a simple past tense and past participle of geld1.
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gelt2
[gelt]
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Origin of gelt2
1890–95; < Yiddish < Middle High German geld money; in earlier British dial. uses < German or Dutch; see geld2
geld1
[geld]
- to castrate (an animal, especially a horse).
- to take strength, vitality, or power from; weaken or subdue.
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Origin of geld1
1250–1300; Middle English gelden < Old Norse gelda
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for gelt
Historical Examples
Gelt stags and bucks have hornless heads, like hinds and does.
The Natural History of Selborne, Vol. 2Gilbert White
The Calroza Sisters are sure some lookers and will give you a run for your gelt.
BabbittSinclair Lewis
Se e fr on sore lufe ne mg h dwelian, ne forhtian: heo gewissa, and gescylt, and gelt.
Gif he onne eft one deofol anrdlice forlǽt, onne gemt h eft s halgan Gastes gife, e his heortan onliht, and to Criste gelt.
Go on my ways with master mein, with my havresac on mein horse—poor teufel was I—but there was gelt in it.
gelt1
- archaic, or dialect a past tense and past participle of geld 1
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gelt2
- slang, mainly US cash or funds; money
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Word Origin
C19: from Yiddish, from Old High German gelt reward
geld1
- to castrate (a horse or other animal)
- to deprive of virility or vitality; emasculate; weaken
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Word Origin
C13: from Old Norse gelda, from geldr barren
geld2
- a tax on land levied in late Anglo-Saxon and Norman England
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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
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Word Origin and History for gelt
n.
"money," 1520s, from German, Dutch gelt "gold, money" (see geld (n.)). In some later uses, from Yiddish.
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adj.
past participle of geld (v.); hence, as an adjective, "castrated" (mid-15c.).
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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.).
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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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper