gilt
/ɡɪlt/noun, adjective, verb
gilt is spelled G-I-L-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 25,751st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, gilt means “Gold or other metal in a thin layer; gilding” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of gilt is gilts.
How many letters and syllables are in gilt?
| Letters | 4: G-I-L-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.2 times per million words; the 25,751st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is gilt?
Gilt appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 25,751st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce gilt?
- US /ɡɪlt/
- US [ɡɪɫt]
Gilt has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-guilt.wav, En-us-gilt.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with gilt
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: guilt (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Also written: guilt.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with gilt?
3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as gilt from its last stressed vowel (/ɪlt/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of gilt
- gilts plural
- more gilt comparative
- most gilt superlative
- yilt
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does gilt mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Gold or other metal in a thin layer; gilding.
- 2
Gold-colored paint or other coating.
- 3
slangMoney.
- 4
UKA security (usually a bond) issued by the Bank of England (see gilt-edged).
higher gilt yields
- 5
obsoleteA gilded object, an object covered with gold.
- 6
UKA young female pig, at or nearing the age of first breeding.
adjective
- 1
Golden coloured; gilded.
verb
- 1
simple past and past participle of gild
noun
- 1
Acronym of globalization, internationalization, localization, and translation
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Gilt in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Vergoldung , gülden |
| French | doré |
| Portuguese | dourado |
| Spanish | dorado |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does gilt come from?
Past participle of gild (“to cover in gold”), thus meaning literally “(something) covered in gold”. Ultimately related to gold (which see). Compare feed, which is related (similarly by ablaut) to food.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).