Meanings
proper noun
alternative Grissel · alternative Grizel · alternative Grizzel
- The long-suffering wife of a nobleman in a medieval tale.
- A female given name from the Germanic languages used in Middle Ages, but rather rare today.
nounGriselda (plural Griseldas)
plural Griseldas · alternative Grissel · alternative Grizel · alternative Grizzel
- A woman of exemplary gentleness and patience.
Husbands, be not so hardy as to assail The patience of your wives in hope to find Griseldas, for you certainly will fail.
1951, Geoffrey Chaucer, “Chaucer's Envoy to the Clerk's Tale”, in Nevill Coghill, transl., The Canterbury Tales: Translated into Modern English (Penguin Classics), Penguin Books, published 1977
Origin
From the Old English elements *grīs (“gray”) + hild (“battle”), meaning “gray battle-maid”.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
Griselda. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Griselda
MLA
“Griselda.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Griselda. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Griselda,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Griselda.
Source: Griselda on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.