gelten
German
Etymology
From Middle High German gelten, from Old High German geltan, from Proto-Germanic *geldaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeldʰ- (“to pay”). Compare Dutch gelden, English yield, Icelandic gjalda.
Pronunciation
Verb
- (intransitive) to be valid; to count; to hold true
- (intransitive) to be effective; to be in force
- 2010, Der Spiegel, issue 21/2010, page 37:
- Doch das Gesetz der Demokratie gilt nur zwischen den Bürgern und ihrem Staat. In der Außenpolitik gilt traditionell das Primat der Regierung.
- But the law of democracy is only in force between the citizens and their state. In foreign policy the primacy of the government is traditionally in force.
- Doch das Gesetz der Demokratie gilt nur zwischen den Bürgern und ihrem Staat. In der Außenpolitik gilt traditionell das Primat der Regierung.
- 2010, Der Spiegel, issue 21/2010, page 37:
- (transitive) to be worth
- Kurt Honolka (tr.), "Das Pfand der Liebe", in Antonín Dvořák, Sechs Klänge aus Mahren.
- Was gilt uns das Wort meiner Mutter? / Meine Mutter, die beherrscht uns nicht!
- What does my mother's word matter to us? / My mother doesn't own us.
- Kurt Honolka (tr.), "Das Pfand der Liebe", in Antonín Dvořák, Sechs Klänge aus Mahren.
- (intransitive, formal) to be for/of (+ dative)
- 1902, Stefan Zweig, ‘Die Wanderung’:
- Sein erster Gedanke galt der Zeit, und er sprang rasch vom Lager, um nach der Sonne zu sehen.
- His first thought was of the time, and he sprang quickly out of bed to see the sun.
- Sein erster Gedanke galt der Zeit, und er sprang rasch vom Lager, um nach der Sonne zu sehen.
- 1902, Stefan Zweig, ‘Die Wanderung’:
- (intransitive, with “als” or “für”) to be regarded (as something); to pass (for something)
- (impersonal) to be necessary
- 2010, Der Spiegel, issue 25/2010, page 77:
- Es gilt deshalb, die richtigen Lehren aus der Krise zu ziehen, aus den Fehlern der Vergangenheit zu lernen, um die Zukunft zu sichern.
- Therefore it is necessary to draw the right lessons from the crisis, to learn from the mistakes of the past for securing the future.
- Es gilt deshalb, die richtigen Lehren aus der Krise zu ziehen, aus den Fehlern der Vergangenheit zu lernen, um die Zukunft zu sichern.
- 2010, Der Spiegel, issue 25/2010, page 77:
- (intransitive, with “lassen”) to pass; to go; (Often translated with lassen as a unit into allow, endure, permit, accept, etc.)
- Das will ich ausnahmsweise mal gelten lassen.
- I will let that pass [allow, concede, endure, permit, accept that] as an exception.
Conjugation
- Neither form of the subjunctive II is common in contemporary German. While gölte sounds archaic, gälte is also avoided since it is homophonous with the forms of the present.
Synonyms
- (count): gilden (colloquial; childish)
Derived terms
Further reading
- “gelten” in Duden online
Categories:
- German terms inherited from Middle High German
- German terms derived from Middle High German
- German terms inherited from Old High German
- German terms derived from Old High German
- German terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- German 2-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio links
- German terms with homophones
- German intransitive verbs
- German transitive verbs
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