girdle.
That which girds, encircles, or encloses; a circumference.
Meaning & usage
That which girds, encircles, or encloses; a circumference.
the girdle of the world
A belt or sash at the waist, often used to support stockings or hosiery.
A garment used to hold the abdomen, hips, buttocks, and/or thighs in a particular shape.
The line of greatest circumference of a brilliant-cut diamond, at which it is grasped by the setting.
A thin bed or stratum of stone.
The clitellum of an earthworm.
The removal or inversion of a ring of bark in order to kill or stunt a tree.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English girdel, gerdel, gurdel, from Old English gyrdel, from Proto-West Germanic *gurdil, from Proto-Germanic *gurdilaz (“girdle, belt”), equivalent to gird + -le. Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Gäddel (“belt”), West Frisian gurdle, gurle, gurl (“belt”), Dutch gordel (“belt”), German Gürtel (“belt”), Yiddish גאַרטל (gartl, “belt”) (whence gartel, a doublet of girdle), Swedish gördel (“girdle”), Icelandic gyrðill (“girdle”).
To gird, encircle, or constrain by such means.
To kill or stunt a tree by removing or inverting a ring of bark.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English girdel, gerdel, gurdel, from Old English gyrdel, from Proto-West Germanic *gurdil, from Proto-Germanic *gurdilaz (“girdle, belt”), equivalent to gird + -le. Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Gäddel (“belt”), West Frisian gurdle, gurle, gurl (“belt”), Dutch gordel (“belt”), German Gürtel (“belt”), Yiddish גאַרטל (gartl, “belt”) (whence gartel, a doublet of girdle), Swedish gördel (“girdle”), Icelandic gyrðill (“girdle”).
Alternative form of griddle.
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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.