Home › Glossary › Letter G

geld

Archaic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

To castrate an animal, especially a horse; to deprive of vitality, strength, or essential resources, weakening or emasculating through removal of power.

Detailed Definition
“Geld” conveys emasculation or weakening, literal or metaphorical. In political poetry, nations are “gelded” of power. The verb’s brutality suits invective or lament. Poets use it to express loss of potency—creative, martial, or virile—grounding abstract decline in visceral imagery of mutilation or economic drain in satirical or tragic contexts.
Example
Example in poetry:
"He gelded the stallion for service," in a rustic verse; Metaphorically: "They gelded his spirit with rules"; In satirical poetry: "The court gelds bold thought"; "Geld not the muse with chains of custom"; "The gelded bull serves, but does not lead"; Love, once wild, was gelded by time.
Additional Notes
“Geld” implies castration or emasculation, literal or metaphorical; in political or satirical verse, to “geld” an idea or institution means to neuter its power, making it a sharp metaphor for suppression or weakening.
Also Known As
castrate emasculate deprive
Skip to main content