different between girdle vs girth

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /???dl?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /????dl?/
• Rhymes: -??(?)d?l

Etymology 1

From Middle English girdel, gerdel, gurdel, from Old English gyrdel, from Proto-Germanic *gurdilaz (“girdle, belt”), equivalent to gird +? -le. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Gäddel (“belt”), West Frisian gurdle, gurle, gurl (“belt”), Dutch gordel (“belt”), German Gürtel (“belt”), Yiddish ??????? (gartl, “belt”) (whence English gartel), Swedish gördel (“girdle”), Icelandic gyrðill (“girdle”).

Noun

girdle (plural girdles)

1. That which girds, encircles, or encloses; a circumference
2. A belt or elasticated corset; especially, a belt, sash, or article of dress encircling the body usually at the waist, often used to support stockings or hosiery.
3. The zodiac; also, the equator.
   • 1799, Thomas Campbell, Pleasures of Hope

     that gems the starry girdle of the year

   • 1782, William Cowper, Expostulation

     from the world's girdle to the frozen pole

   • under the girdle of the world

4. The line of greatest circumference of a brilliant-cut diamond, at which it is grasped by the setting.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

5. (mining) A thin bed or stratum of stone.
6. The clitellum of an earthworm.
7. The removal or inversion of a ring of bark in order to kill or stunt a tree.

Translations

Derived terms

• notch girdle
• peel girdle

Verb

girdle (third-person singular simple present girdles, present participle girdling, simple past and past participle girdled)

1. (transitive) To gird, encircle, or constrain by such means.
2. (transitive) To kill or stunt a tree by removing or inverting a ring of bark.

Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

girdle (plural girdles)

1. (Scotland, Northern English) Alternative form of griddle

References

Anagrams

• Gilder, gilder, girled, glider, gridle, regild, ridgel

English

Etymology

From Middle English girth, gerth, gyrth, from Old Norse gj?rð, from Proto-Germanic *gerd?, from Proto-Indo-European *g?erd?- (“to encircle, enclose; belt”). Cognate with Gothic ???????????????????????? (gairda), Icelandic gjörð. Also related to German Gurt, English gird, Albanian ngërthej (“to tie, bind, fasten”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /????/
• (US) IPA^(key): /???/
• Rhymes: -??(?)?

Noun

girth (countable and uncountable, plural girths)

1. A band passed under the belly of an animal, which holds a saddle or a harness saddle in place.
2. The part of an animal around which the girth fits.
3. (informal) One's waistline circumference, most often a large one.
   • Addison

     He's a lusty, jolly fellow, that lives well, at least three yards in the girth.

4. A small horizontal brace or girder.
5. The distance measured around an object.
6. (graph theory) The length of the shortest cycle in a graph.

Synonyms

• circumference
• cinch

Derived terms

• girthen
• girthful
• girthless
• girthly
• girthsome
• girthy

Translations

Verb

girth (third-person singular simple present girths, present participle girthing, simple past and past participle girthed)

1. To bind as if with a girth or band.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Johnson to this entry?)

Anagrams

• grith, right