Giellan

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Old English for making a loud, piercing cry or noise that rings out across the air
2. An archaic verb meaning to yell or shriek loudly, or to produce a resounding, ringing sound
3. To utter a sharp, resonant cry, or to give out a loud noise that echoes in the hearing

Etymology: The Old English verb "giellan" meant to cry out, shout, or make a loud, ringing noise, and it described sound that carried, such as a bell or a war cry. Its English descendant is the ordinary verb "yell," which kept the sense of a sharp, loud outcry. The change from "g" to "y" at the start is a regular sound shift: in Old English, "g" before a front vowel was pronounced like the "y" in "yes," and that pronunciation eventually became the standard spelling and sound. The same root survives in relatives across the Germanic languages. Old Norse had "gjalla," meaning to ring or resound, and modern German has "gellen," which describes a piercing, shrill sound. Together these show that the original idea was of a sound that rings out, and the modern meaning of shouting is a narrowing of that broader sense.

Synonyms: yell, cry, shout, scream, howl