Etymograph

English

yield

Yield comes from Old English ġieldan ‘to pay’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *geldaną.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*geldaną‘to pay’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*geldan‘to pay’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġieldan‘to pay’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500yielden
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588yield

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*geldaną‘to pay’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*geldan‘to pay’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġieldan‘to pay’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500yielden
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588yield

Earliest quotation: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “Won with thy words, & conquered with thy lookes,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʰeldʰ- ‘to pay’

geld, 1 more

through Proto-Germanic *geldaną ‘to pay’

gillie, 3 more

Today it means

verb To give as a result or outcome; to produce or render.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *geldaną / yield

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