girdle
, gird + el.
Searchable Lemmata: gyrdel (OE), gyrdels (OE), girdel (ME), gurdel (AN), girdill (OScots), girdle (MdE).
Alternate Forms: gerdel, girdle, girrdell, gordel, gridel, gurdel, gyrdel, gyrdell, 3irdels.
Definitions and Defining Citations:
1a(n.)
Garment;
belt, cord or sash (often narrow), typically worn at the waist usually tied or knotted; used to fasten or confine garments or as a means of carrying small objects such as purses or keys; becomes long and decorative in later Middle Ages. May be some overlap with the following sense. In more general usage, used to refer to anything that wraps around the middle of a body (as in biological or medical contexts) or that divides one part from another.(circa 1000 still in current use)
3. Item ij dossen et ix de gurdell' ... vs. vjd.
Item iij li. de selke ... xlijs.
Item j gros poyntes ... xvjd.
Item di. dossen de purses ... xijd.
Item j li. de Iverycombez ... vjs. viijd.
...
Item ix gurdell Thred ... iijs. vjd.
Item j gros Poyntes ... xvjd.
...
Item iij Pursez de Roo ... [pris] xijd.
Item j pec. de kerchevys de Flaundrez ... ijs. vjd.
Item iv li. thred ... iiijs.
Item j serce de selke ... ijs.
Accounts.
[LexP Bristol Customs Searchers (p. 51, no. 38.B) ante 1399/1413]
5. 2025] ... Þe wlonkest wedes he warp on hymseluen, His cote wyth þe conysaunce of þe clere werkez Ennurned vpon veluet ... furred with-inne wyth fayre pelures ... [2035] ... Þe gordel of þe grene silke ... Vpon þat ryol red cloþe
Arthurian, Heroic, Poetic, Romance.
[MED Gawain ((Nero A.10) 2025-2035) circa 1400]
6. [20] ... The gyrdel be-tokenz conscience, that Criste commandez [L imposuit] prestes ... [23] ... Uestimentes ordeynde by prestes techen vs hou a preste awe to be arayede inwardly in soule.The maniple or phanone in the lefte hande be-tokenez pacyence in aduersite, that es betokende by the lyfte syde ... [25] ... The stoole strenynge the breste in maner of the cros be-tokenez that he owez not to be schamede of the cros of Criste
Ecclesiastic/Regula.
[MED Spec.Chr. (2) ((Hrl 6580) 180/20-25) circa 1450]
Sex: Male, Female Use: n/a Status: n/a Rank: n/a Ceremonial: No
Body Parts:
1b(n.)
Accessory;
specifically, a baldric or a decorative strap worn about the neck, typically used to carry a shield. May be some overlap with the previous sense.(ante 1425 - ante 1500)
Sex: Male Use: n/a Ceremonial: No
Body Parts: Neck, Shoulder(s).
Etymological Evidence:
Definite, OE gyrdel (from the v. gyrdan) and gyrdels.
WF:
Etym Cog: gyrdels (OE), gurtil (OHG), gyrðill (Old Norse).
References:
