Etymology

danegeld

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Today it means: A tax raised originally to pay tribute or protection money to the Viking raiders in the 10th and 11th centuries to save a land from being ravaged, and later continued as a land tax. Full definition →

Middle English danegeld ← Old Norse *Danagjald
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The story

  1. Old Norse · derived from*Danagjald
  2. Middle English · inherited fromdanegeld
  3. English todayDanegeld

Inherited from Middle English danegeld, from Dane, genitive plural of Dan (“Dane”), plus geld (“geld, tribute, payment”). Apparently modeled on a Scandinavian word such as Old Danish Danegjeld, from Old Norse *Danagjald, from the genitive plural of Danir (“Danes”) + gjald (“payment, tribute”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.