An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/gelten

by Friedrich Kluge

gelten, vb., ‘to be worth, pass current, prove effectual,’ from MidHG. gëlten, OHG. gëltan, str. vb., ‘to repay, pay, cost, be worth, requite, compensate’; comp. Goth. us-, fra-gildan, ‘to requite’ (akin to Goth. gild and gilstr, n., ‘tax’), OIc. gjalda (OSwed., also gialla, from Teut. gelþan), ‘to pay,’ AS. gildan, E. to yield, Du. gelden, ‘to be worth, cost,’ OSax. geldan. The common Teut. stem gelþ, the þ of which is proved by OSwed. from pre-Teut. ghel-t, points to the fact that OSlov. žlědą, ‘I pay, atone for,’ was borrowed. The prim. meaning of the Teut. cognates is ‘to make good, pay over something’; it seems to be specially applied to religious sacrifices; comp. AS. gild, OSax. gëld, ‘sacrifice’ (akin to Gr. τέλθος, ‘duty’?). See Geld, Gilde. — The particle gelt, which first occurs in early ModHG., is properly the subj. pres. of the vb. gelten.