scold
nounEtymology
The noun is from Middle English scold(e), skald(e), first attested in the 12th or 13th century (as scold, scolde, skolde, skald). The verb is from Middle English scolden, first attested in the late 1300s. Most dictionaries derive the verb from the noun and say the noun is probably from Old Norse skald (“poet”) (cognate with Icelandic skáld (“poet, scop”)), as skalds sometimes wrote insulting poems, though another view is that the Norse and English words are cognate to each other and to Old High German skeltan (whence Modern German schelten (“to scold, chide”)), Old Dutch skeldan (whence Modern Dutch schelden (“to scold, berate”)), all inherited from Proto-Germanic *skeldaną (“scold”).
Definitions
A person who habitually scolds, in particular a troublesome and angry woman.
- A ſclaunderous tunge, a tunge of a ſkolde, Worketh more miſchiefe than can be tolde; That, if I wiſt not to be controlde, Yet ſomwhat to ſay I dare well be bolde,
- “Well, I won’t have it, and that’s enough.” She laughed, for her voice had a little been that of the professional scold.
- Near the pond was the ducking-stool where many a village scold had her tongue temporarily stilled.
To rebuke angrily.
- I advise that you refrain from using that kind of language at home, lest your mother scold you.
- A week elapsed before she could see Elizabeth without scolding her —
Of birds, to make harsh vocalisations in aggression.
›+ 2 more definitionsshow fewer
Of birds, to make vocalisations that resemble human scolding.
Misconstruction of scald.
The neighborhood
- synonymcriticize
Derived
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at scold. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at scold. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
7 hops · closes at scold
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA