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gild

 - 8 dictionary results
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gild

1  [gild]
Use gild in a Sentence
–verb (used with object), gild⋅ed or gilt, gild⋅ing.
1. to coat with gold, gold leaf, or a gold-colored substance.
2. to give a bright, pleasing, or specious aspect to.
3. Archaic. to make red, as with blood.
—Idiom
4. gild the lily, to add unnecessary ornamentation, a special feature, etc., in an attempt to improve something that is already complete, satisfactory, or ideal: After that wonderful meal, serving a fancy dessert would be gilding the lily.
Origin:
1300–50; ME gilden, OE -gyldan; akin to gold

Related forms:
gild⋅a⋅ble, adjective
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gild

2  [gild]
–noun
guild.

guild

  [gild]
–noun
1. an organization of persons with related interests, goals, etc., esp. one formed for mutual aid or protection.
2. any of various medieval associations, as of merchants or artisans, organized to maintain standards and to protect the interests of its members, and that sometimes constituted a local governing body.
3. Botany. a group of plants, as parasites, having a similar habit of growth and nutrition.
Also, gild.

Origin:
bef. 1000; ME gild(e) < ON gildi guild, payment; r. OE gegyld guild; akin to G Geld money, Goth -gild tax
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To gild
gild 1   (gĭld)   
tr.v.   gild·ed or gilt (gĭlt), gild·ing, gilds

  1. To cover with or as if with a thin layer of gold.

  2. To give an often deceptively attractive or improved appearance to.

  3. Archaic To smear with blood.


[Middle English gilden, from Old English gyldan; see ghel-2 in Indo-European roots.]
gild'er n.
gild 2   (gĭld)   
n.  Variant of guild.
guild also gild   (gĭld)   
n.  

    1. An association of persons of the same trade or pursuits, formed to protect mutual interests and maintain standards.

    2. A similar association, as of merchants or artisans, in medieval times.

  2. Ecology A group of diverse species, especially animal species, that occupy a common niche in a given community, characterized by exploitation of environmental resources in the same way.


[Middle English gild, from Old Norse gildi, payment, guild.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

gild 
O.E. gyldan, from P.Gmc. *gulthianan (cf. O.N. gylla "to guild"), from *gulthan "gold." Shakespeare's lilies were never gilded. The quote ("King John," iv.2) is, "To gild refined gold, to paint the lily."

guild 
c.1230, yilde (spelling later infl. by O.N. gildi), a semantic fusion of O.E. gegyld "guild" and gild, gyld "payment, tribute, compensation," from P.Gmc. *gelth- "pay" (cf. O.Fris. geld "money," O.S. geld "payment, sacrifice, reward," O.H.G. gelt "payment, tribute"). The connecting sense is of a tribute or payment to join a protective or trade society. But some see the root in its alternate sense of "sacrifice," as if in worship, and see the word as meaning a combination for religious purposes, either Christian or pagan. The Anglo-Saxon guilds had a strong religious component; they were burial societies that paid for masses for the souls of deceased members as well as paying fines in cases of justified crime. The continental custom of guilds of merchants arrived after the Conquest, with incorporated societies of merchants in each town or city holding exclusive rights of doing business there. In many cases they became the governing body of a town (cf. Guildhall, which came to be the London city hall). Trade guilds arose 14c., as craftsmen united to protect their common interest.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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