yield

• IPA^(key): /jiːld/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -iːld

From Middle English yielden, yelden, ȝelden (“to yield, pay”), from Old English ġieldan (“to pay”), from Proto-Germanic *geldaną (“to pay”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeldʰ- (“to pay”). Cognate with Scots yield (“to yield”), North Frisian jilden (“to pay”), Saterland Frisian Saterland Frisian jäilde (“to be valid; matter; count; be worth”), West Frisian jilde (“to pay”), Low German Low German gellen, Dutch gelden (“to apply, count, be valued, be regarded”), German gelten (“to apply, count, be valued, be regarded”), Icelandic gjalda (“to pay, yield, give”).

yield (third-person singular simple present yields, present participle yielding, simple past yielded or (obsolete) yold, past participle yielded or (obsolete) yolden)

1. (obsolete) To pay, give in payment; repay, recompense; reward; requite.
   • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare

     God 'ild [yield] you!

   • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare

     Tend me to-night two hours, I ask no more, / And the gods yield you for 't.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Beaumont and Fletcher

     God yield thee, and God thank ye.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Gareth and Lynette, Alfred Tennyson

     The good mother holds me still a child! Good mother is bad mother unto me! A worse were better; yet no worse would I. Heaven yield her for it!

2. To furnish; to afford; to render; to give forth.
   • (Can we date this quote?) John Milton

     Vines yield nectar.

   • Bible, Job 24.5:

     The wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children.

3. To give way; to allow another to pass first.

   Yield the right of way to pedestrians.

4. To give as required; to surrender, relinquish or capitulate.

   They refuse to yield to the enemy.

   • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare

     I'll make him yield the crown.

   • (Can we date this quote?) John Milton

     Shall yield up all their virtue, all their fame.

5. To give, or give forth, (anything).
   • c. 1610-11, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act I scene ii:

     […] We'll visit Caliban, my slave, who never / Yields us kind answer.

6. (intransitive) To give way; to succumb to a force.
   • 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, chapter 21:

     He turned the handle as he spoke, but the door did not yield. We threw ourselves against it. With a crash it burst open, and we almost fell headlong into the room.

7. To produce as return, as from an investment.

   Historically, that security yields a high return.

8. (mathematics) To produce as a result.

   Adding 3 and 4 yields a result of 7.

9. (linguistics) To produce a particular sound as the result of a sound law.

   Indo-European p- yields Germanic f-.

10. (engineering, materials science, of a material specimen) To pass the material's yield point and undergo plastic deformation.
11. (rare) To admit to be true; to concede; to allow.
    • (Can we date this quote?) John Milton

      I yield it just, said Adam, and submit.

• submit - To fully surrender
• capitulate - To end all resistance, may imply a compensation with an enemy or to end all resistance because of loss of hope
• succumb - To fully surrender, because of helplessness and extreme weakness, to the leader of an opposing force
• relent - A yielding because of pity or mercy
• defer - A voluntary submitting out of respect, reverence or affection
• give way - To succumb to persistent persuasion.
• surrender - To give up into the power, control, or possession of another
• cede - To give up, give way, give away
• give up - To surrender
• produce - To make (a thing) available to a person, an authority, etc.
• bear - To produce something, such as fruit or crops
• supply - To provide (something), to make (something) available for use
• give in
• to trade away - to let others get hold of a property or right of yours.

From Middle English ȝeld, from Old English ġield, from Proto-Germanic *geldą (“reward, gift, money”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeldʰ- (“to pay”). Compare West Frisian jild, Dutch geld, Low German and German Geld, Danish gjæld, Swedish gäld, Icelandic gjald. See also geld.

yield (countable and uncountable, plural yields)

1. (obsolete) Payment; tribute.
2. A product; the quantity of something produced.

   Zucchini plants always seem to produce a high yield of fruit.

3. (law) The current return as a percentage of the price of a stock or bond.
   • 2013 July 6, “The rise of smart beta”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8843, page 68:

     Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.

4. (finance) Profit earned from an investment; return on investment.

• crop
• fruits
• gain
• harvest
• produce
• return

• Leidy, ylide