Lutherans and Hanukkah: Origin of 'gelt'

» biogardener - Origin of 'gelt'

Yiddish is derived from the Swabian dialect, i.e. the area around Stuttgart. The Yiddish word "gelt" is exactly the same word in Old High German, "gelt" which became Middle High German "geld." The verb associated with it is "gelten" which means to be worth or to be considered as something or someone.

The German word "Gold," however, although related, has come to us by a different route. The Indo-Germanic word is "ghel," meaning shiny, and the English word yellow is derived from it. So the Yiddish word "gelt" is the same and has the same meaning as the German word "Geld," not "Gold." The old European currency, "Gulden" is the adjective derived from the word "Gold," because that is what it was originally made of.

-- posted by biogardener