# girdle

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈɡɝdl̩/ · frequency rank #36,581

## Definitions
1. That which girds, encircles, or encloses; a circumference.
2. A belt or sash at the waist, often used to support stockings or hosiery.
3. A garment used to hold the abdomen, hips, buttocks, and/or thighs in a particular shape.
4. The line of greatest circumference of a brilliant-cut diamond, at which it is grasped by the setting.
5. A thin bed or stratum of stone.
6. The clitellum of an earthworm.
7. The removal or inversion of a ring of bark in order to kill or stunt a tree.

## Etymology
From Middle English girdel, gerdel, gurdel, from Old English gyrdel, from Proto-West Germanic *gurdil, from Proto-Germanic *gurdilaz (“girdle, belt”), equivalent to gird + -le.
Cognates
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Gäddel (“belt”), West Frisian gurdle, gurle, gurl (“belt”), Dutch gordel (“belt”), German Gürtel (“belt”), Yiddish גאַרטל (gartl, “belt”) (whence gartel, a doublet of girdle), Swedish gördel (“girdle”), Icelandic gyrðill (“girdle”).

## Easily confused with
- **girl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/girdle-vs-girl)
- **girls** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/girdle-vs-girls)
- **girly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/girdle-vs-girly)
- **girlie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/girdle-vs-girlie)
- **giggle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/giggle-vs-girdle)
- **girder** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/girder-vs-girdle)

## Common misspellings (9)
`ggirdle`, `gidrle`, `girddle`, `girdel`, `girdlle`, `girlde`, `girrdle`, `gridle`, `igrdle`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/girdle