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guild

UK/ɡɪld/US/ɡɪld/
nounB2+Common in everyday speech and writing · #5,887 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: guilds

A guild is a medieval association of craftsmen in one trade. The weavers' guild, a guild hall, join the guild.

They controlled who could work, trained apprentices and set standards, and they were both a protection for quality and a restraint on trade — economists still argue which mattered more. The name survives in guildhalls and in trade unions of a modern kind. The word came from Old Norse.

Rembrandt · Public domain

Definitions of guild

  1. 1nounguildA medieval association of craftsmen in one trade.B2+

    “In the Middle Ages, a young man had to join the guild before he could work as a baker.”

guild is an association.

Where it comes from

Old Norse gildi means a payment or guild, from the dues members paid. Geld and yield are relatives.

  1. Old Norse

    gildi — payment, guild

  2. Middle English

    gilde

  3. English, today

    guild

From Middle English gilde, from Old Norse gildi (“payment, guild”). Related to geld, yield, yauld.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in History & Eras

Practise this word

guild in the wild

  • Typically the key "privilege" was that only guild members were allowed to sell their goods or practice their skill within a city.

    Guild

  • The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad.

    Directors Guild of America

  • The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries.

    Guild of Saint Luke

  • However, as artists formed under their own specific guild of St.

    Guild of Saint Luke

  • The guilds were on strike for 14 weeks and 2 days.

    2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.