Yauld

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Possessing great physical strength and energy, especially in old age or despite hardship
2. Marked by robust vigor and muscular power, often describing someone active and resilient
3. Strong-bodied and forceful in constitution or action, showing remarkable stamina and vitality

Etymology: Yauld is a Scots word, and its story is mostly one of meaning contracting around a single sense. Its Old English ancestor, "ġilde," meant "valuable, of worth," and the same root gave Middle English "yeld," which carried a sense of being worth something to someone and, from there, of being able to give or pay back. That is the same root that gives the modern verb "yield," so the two words are close relatives that went separate ways. The Scots form took a different path. Its nearest kin in the wider family are Old Norse "gildr," meaning "of full worth, size, measure, or quality," and its modern Scandinavian descendants, such as Icelandic "gildur," Swedish "gild," and Danish "gild," which all describe something stout, substantial or of full size. Yauld carries that sense of solid strength, describing a person or thing as active, strong, or mighty.