Etymograph

English

gird

Gird comes from Old English gyrdan ‘to put a belt around, to put a girdle around’, from Proto-Germanic *gurdijaną ‘to gird’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰerdʰ- ‘to enclose, to encircle’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰerdʰ-1‘to enclose, to encircle’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gurdijaną1‘to gird’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150gyrdan1‘to put a belt around, to put a girdle around’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500girden1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1591gird1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English gird
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1591, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “We heere create thee the firſt Duke of Suffolke,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰerdʰ-Wiktionary, English gird‘to enclose, to encircle’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gurdijanąWiktionary, English gird‘to gird’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150gyrdanWiktionary, English gird‘to put a belt around, to put a girdle around’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500girdenWiktionary, English gird
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1591girdWiktionary, English gird. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1591, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “We heere create thee the firſt Duke of Suffolke,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʰerdʰ- ‘to enclose, to encircle’

urban, garden, yard, garth, hangar, jardin, girth, gord, 11 more

Another origin of gird

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gurdijaną‘to gird’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150*gyrdan‘to gird’reconstructed
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500girden‘to strike’
  4. Englishtodaygird

Today it means

verb To bind with a flexible rope or cord.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “gird”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʰerdʰ- / gird

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