Etymograph

English

girt

Girt comes from English girth ‘belt, circumference, brace’.

  1. English1500–presentgirth1‘belt, circumference, brace’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2013girt1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English girt
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2013, Rob Roy, Basic Timber Frame Structure: “There are various ways of tying rafters to sidewalls,…”.

Lineage

  1. English1500–presentgirthWiktionary, English girt‘belt, circumference, brace’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2013girtWiktionary, English girt. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2013, Rob Roy, Basic Timber Frame Structure: “There are various ways of tying rafters to sidewalls,…”

Every English word from English girth

Another origin of girt

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500girten‘gird, encircle’
  2. Englishtodaygirt

Another origin of girt

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰrewd-‘to rub, grind, remove’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grautaz‘coarse, crude’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*grautreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150grēat‘big’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500greteas gret, metathetic variant‘great’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500girt
  7. Englishtodaygirt

Today it means

noun A horizontal structural member of post and beam architecture, typically attached to bridge two or more vertical members such as corner posts.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “girt”. 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 / English girth / girt

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