Gelding
/ˈɡɛldɪŋ/noun
A castrated male horse.
Did you know?The English word comes from a Germanic root meaning to castrate, and it is historically linked to words for “yielding” and “geld” in the sense of payment or tribute, showing how power, control, and value were tangled together in older language.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*geldaną
“to pay, repay, compensate; in some branches, to castrate”
Old English
OE
gieldan / geldan
“to pay, render, or castrate depending on context and later development”
Middle English
ME
gelding
“a castrated male animal, especially a horse”
Modern English
English
gelding
“a castrated male horse”