gird
/ɡɜːd/
"gird" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“gird” is an uncommon English word, ranked #73,224 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #73,224
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To bind with a flexible rope or cord.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | gird |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɡɜːd/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #73,224 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “gird” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for gird is 4 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɡɜːd/. Corpus data places it at rank #73,224 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
gird has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English girden, gerden, gürden, from Old English gyrdan (“to put a belt around, to put a girdle around”), from Proto-Germanic *gurdijaną (“to gird”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰerdʰ-. Cognate with West Frisian gurdzje, girdzje, Dutch gorden, Ge… The correct English form is gird, spelled G-I-R-D.
Definition
- 1To bind with a flexible rope or cord.
- 2To encircle with, or as if with a belt.
- 3To prepare (oneself) for an action.
- 4(of a vessel towing another) To be pulled on sideways by its towline, putting it at risk of capsizing.
Etymology
From Middle English girden, gerden, gürden, from Old English gyrdan (“to put a belt around, to put a girdle around”), from Proto-Germanic *gurdijaną (“to gird”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰerdʰ-. Cognate with West Frisian gurdzje, girdzje, Dutch gorden, German gürten, Swedish gjorda, Icelandic gyrða, Albanian ngërthej (“to tie together by weaving, to bind”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “gird”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-I-R-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɡɜːd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.