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yield

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

5 characters

Language

English

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "yield", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "yield" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "yield" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

yield is aEnglishverb. It means: To give as a result or outcome; to produce or render. Pronounced /jiːld/. It ranks #5,567 in English word frequency. Often confused with yields and yielded.

Key facts for yield
PropertyValue
Headwordyield
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/jiːld/
Letters5
Frequency rank#5,567
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of yield in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for yield is 5 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /jiːld/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,567 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 11 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for yield, with forms such as "iyeld", "yeild", and "yiedl". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "yields", "yielded", "yell", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English yielden, yelden, ȝelden (“to yield, pay”), from Old English ġieldan (“to pay”), from Proto-West Germanic *geldan (“to pay”), from Proto-Germanic *geldaną (“to pay”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeldʰ- (“to pay”). The noun is from Middle E… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is yield, spelled Y-I-E-L-D, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    To give as a result or outcome; to produce or render.
  2. 2
    To give as a result or outcome; to produce or render.
  3. 3
    To give as a result or outcome; to produce or render.
  4. 4
    To give as a result or outcome; to produce or render.
  5. 5
    To give as a result or outcome; to produce or render.
  6. 6
    To give up; to surrender or capitulate.
  7. 7
    To give up; to surrender or capitulate.
  8. 8
    To give up; to surrender or capitulate.
  9. 9
    To give up; to surrender or capitulate.
  10. 10
    To give up; to surrender or capitulate.
  11. 11
    To give up; to surrender or capitulate.

Etymology

From Middle English yielden, yelden, ȝelden (“to yield, pay”), from Old English ġieldan (“to pay”), from Proto-West Germanic *geldan (“to pay”), from Proto-Germanic *geldaną (“to pay”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeldʰ- (“to pay”). The noun is from Middle English ȝeld (“tax, payment”), from Old English ġield (“payment”), from Proto-West Germanic *geld (“payment”), from Proto-Germanic *geldą (“reward, gift, money”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeldʰ- (“to pay”). Cognates Cognate with Scots yield (“to yield”), North Frisian jilden (“to pay”), Saterland Frisian jäilde (“to be valid, matter, count, be worth”), West Frisian jilde (“to pay”), Low German gellen, Dutch gelden (“to apply, count, be valued, be regarded”), gelden (“to apply, count, be valued, be regarded”), German gelten (“to apply, count, be valued, be regarded”), Danish gælde (“to apply, count, be valued, be regarded”), Icelandic gjalda (“to pay, yield, give”), Norwegian Bokmål gjelde (“to apply, count, be valued, be regarded”), Norwegian Nynorsk gjelde, gjelda (“to apply, count, be valued, be regarded”), Swedish gälda (“to pay”), gälla (“to apply, be regarded”). The noun is cognate with West Frisian jild (“money”), Dutch geld (“money”), Low German and German Geld (“money”), Danish gæld (“debt”), Faroese and Icelandic gjald (“fee, payment”), Norn gild (“payment”), Norwegian gjeld (“debt”), and Swedish gäld (“debt”). See also geld.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: iyeld,yeild,yiedl,yieldd,yielld,yiled,yyield

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for yield

Misspelling Variants of "yield"

iyeld5yeild5yiedl5yieldd6yielld6yiled5yyield6
Misspelling Variants of "yield"

Frequency rank: #5,567 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "yield"?
"yield" is spelled Y-I-E-L-D. The IPA pronunciation is /jiːld/.
What does "yield" mean?
As a verb, "yield" means: To give as a result or outcome; to produce or render.
What words are commonly confused with "yield"?
"yield" is commonly confused with "yields", "yielded", "yell". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "yield"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "yield" is /jiːld/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "yield"?
From Middle English yielden, yelden, ȝelden (“to yield, pay”), from Old English ġieldan (“to pay”), from Proto-West Germanic *geldan (“to pay”), from Proto-Germanic *geldaną (“to pay”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeldʰ- (“to pay”). The noun is fro... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter Y in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.