yard

yard
{{11}}yard (n.1) "ground around a house," O.E. geard "enclosure, garden, court, house, yard," from P.Gmc. *garda (Cf. O.N. garðr "enclosure, garden, yard;" O.Fris. garda, Du. gaard, O.H.G. garto, Ger. Garten "garden;" Goth. gards "house," garda "stall"), from PIE *gharto-, from root *gher- "to grasp, enclose" (Cf. O.E. gyrdan "to gird," Skt. ghra- "house," Alb. garth "hedge," L. hortus "garden," Phrygian -gordum "town," Gk. khortos "pasture," O.Ir. gort "field," Bret. garz "enclosure, garden," and second element in L. cohors "enclosure, yard, company of soldiers, multitude").
Lith. gardas "pen, enclosure," O.C.S. gradu "town, city," and Rus. gorod, -grad "town, city" belong to this group, but linguists dispute whether they are independent developments or borrowings from Germanic. Yard sale is attested by 1976. Middle English yerd "yard-land" (mid-15c.) was a measure of about 30 acres.
{{12}}yard (n.2) measure of length, O.E. gerd (Mercian), gierd (W.Saxon) "rod, stick, measure of length," from W.Gmc. *gazdijo, from P.Gmc. *gazdaz "stick, rod" (Cf. O.S. gerda, O.Fris. ierde, Du. gard "rod;" O.H.G. garta, Ger. gerte "switch, twig," O.N. gaddr "spike, sting, nail"), from PIE *gherdh- "staff, pole" (Cf. L. hasta "shaft, staff"). The nautical YARDARM (Cf. yardarm) retains the original sense of "stick."
Originally in Anglo-Saxon times a land measure of roughly 5 meters (a length later called rod, pole, or perch). Modern measure of "three feet" is attested from late 14c. (earlier rough equivalent was the ell of 45 inches, and the verge). In Middle English, the word also was a euphemism for "penis" (Cf. "Love's Labour's Lost," V.ii.676). Slang meaning "one hundred dollars" first attested 1926, American English.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • yard — yard …   Dictionnaire des rimes

  • yard — [ jard ] n. m. • 1669; mot angl. ♦ Mesure de longueur anglo saxonne (0,914 m). ⇒ verge. ● yard nom masculin (anglais yard) Unité principale de longueur (symbole yd) du système de mesures coutumier dans les pays anglo saxons, valant 0,914 m. yard… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Yard — Yard, n. [OE. yard, yerd, AS. geard; akin to OFries. garda garden, OS. gardo garden, gard yard, D. gaard garden, G. garten, OHG. garto garden, gari inclosure, Icel. gar[eth]r yard, house, Sw. g[*a]rd, Dan. gaard, Goth. gards a house, garda… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Yard — 〈n.; s, s od. ; Abk.: yd.〉 engl. u. nordamerikanisches Längenmaß, 0,91 m [engl., „Gerte, Messrute“; verwandt mit Gerte] * * * Yard [engl.: jɑ:d ], das; s, s <aber: 4 Yard[s]> [engl. yard, eigtl. = Maßstab; Rute]: Längeneinheit in… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • yard — yard1 [yärd] n. [ME yerde < OE gierd, rod, staff, yard measure, akin to obs. Ger gerte, rod < IE * g̑hazdho , var. of base * ghasto , rod, pole > L hasta, pole, spear] 1. a) a unit of length in the FPS system, equal to 3 feet or 36… …   English World dictionary

  • Yard — Yard, n. [OE. yerd, AS. gierd, gyrd, a rod, stick, a measure, a yard; akin to OFries. ierde, OS. gerda, D. garde, G. gerte, OHG. gartia, gerta, gart, Icel. gaddr a goad, sting, Goth. gazds, and probably to L. hasta a spear. Cf. {Gad}, n., {Gird} …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • yard — W2S2 [ja:d US ja:rd] n ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1¦(measure)¦ 2¦(enclosed area)¦ 3¦(garden)¦ 4¦(back of house)¦ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ [Sense: 1; Origin: Old English geard, gierd stick ] [Sense: 2 4; Origin: Old E …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • yard — Ⅰ. yard [1] ► NOUN 1) a unit of linear measure equal to 3 feet (0.9144 metre). 2) a square or cubic yard, especially of sand or other building materials. 3) a cylindrical spar slung across a ship s mast for a sail to hang from. ● by the yard Cf.… …   English terms dictionary

  • Yard — Yard, v. t. To confine (cattle) to the yard; to shut up, or keep, in a yard; as, to yard cows. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • yard — [ jard ] noun count *** 1. ) AMERICAN an area around a house that is used for sitting, playing, and growing plants in. British garden a ) an enclosed area around a large building where people can do activities outside: a school/prison yard b ) a… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • yard — ‘enclosed area’ [OE] and yard ‘three feet’ [OE] are distinct words, both of ancient ancestry. The former probably goes back ultimately to Indo European *ghorto , which also produced Latin cohors ‘court’ (source of English cohort and court) and… …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

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