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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

gilt.

Gold or other metal in a thin layer; gilding.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ɡɪlt/General-American, Received-Pronunciation[ɡɪɫt]General-American, Received-Pronunciation

  1. Gold or other metal in a thin layer; gilding.

    uncountable · usually

  2. Gold or other metal in a thin layer; gilding. Gold-colored paint or other coating.

    broadly · uncountable · usually

  3. Money.

    slang · uncountable · usually

  4. A security (usually a bond) issued by the Bank of England (see gilt-edged).

    UK · countable · usually
    higher gilt yields

  5. A gilded object, an object covered with gold.

    obsolete · uncountable · usually
Where this word comes from

Past participle of gild (“to cover in gold”), thus meaning literally “(something) covered in gold”. Ultimately related to gold (which see). Compare feed, which is related (similarly by ablaut) to food. Cognate with Dutch (ver)guld, Icelandic gyllt and Faroese gylt.

adj/ɡɪlt/General-American, Received-Pronunciation[ɡɪɫt]General-American, Received-Pronunciation

  1. Golden coloured; gilded.

Where this word comes from

Past participle of gild (“to cover in gold”), thus meaning literally “(something) covered in gold”. Ultimately related to gold (which see). Compare feed, which is related (similarly by ablaut) to food. Cognate with Dutch (ver)guld, Icelandic gyllt and Faroese gylt.

noun/ɡɪlt/General-American, Received-Pronunciation[ɡɪɫt]General-American, Received-Pronunciation

  1. A young female pig, at or nearing the age of first breeding.

    UK · regional
Where this word comes from

From Middle English gilt, gylt, from Old Norse gyltr; compare geld and yelt.

verb/ɡɪlt/General-American, Received-Pronunciation[ɡɪɫt]General-American, Received-Pronunciation

  1. simple past and past participle of gild

    form-of · participle · past
Where this word comes from

Past participle of gild (“to cover in gold”), thus meaning literally “(something) covered in gold”. Ultimately related to gold (which see). Compare feed, which is related (similarly by ablaut) to food. Cognate with Dutch (ver)guld, Icelandic gyllt and Faroese gylt.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.