GeezerVison

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English

Etymology

From Middle English yielden, yelden, ȝelden (“to yield, pay”), from Old English ġieldan (“to pay”), from Proto-West Germanic *geldan (“to pay”), from Proto-Germanic *geldaną (“to pay”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeldʰ- (“to pay”). Doublet of geld.

The noun is from Middle English ȝeld (“tax, payment”), from Old English ġield (“payment”), from Proto-West Germanic *geld (“payment”), from Proto-Germanic *geldą (“reward, gift, money”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeldʰ- (“to pay”).

Cognates

Cognate with Scots yield (“to yield”), North Frisian jilden (“to pay”), Saterland Frisian jäilde (“to be valid, matter, count, be worth”), West Frisian jilde (“to pay”), Low German gellen, Dutch gelden (“to apply, count, be valued, be regarded”), gelden (“to apply, count, be valued, be regarded”), German gelten (“to apply, count, be valued, be regarded”), Danish gælde (“to apply, count, be valued, be regarded”), Faroese and Icelandic gjalda (“to pay”), Norwegian Bokmål gjelde (“to apply, count, be valued, be regarded”), Norwegian Nynorsk gjelde, gjelda (“to apply, count, be valued, be regarded”), Swedish gälda (“to pay”), gälla (“to apply, be regarded”).

The noun is cognate with West Frisian jild (“money”), Dutch geld (“money”), Low German and German Geld (“money”), Danish gæld (“debt”), Faroese and Icelandic gjald (“fee, payment”), Norn gild (“payment”), Norwegian gjeld (“debt”), and Swedish gäld (“debt”). See also geld.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /jiːld/
Audio (US): (file)
Rhymes: -iːld

Verb

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

To give as a result or outcome; to produce or render.
Synonyms: produce, bear, afford (rare)

Near-synonyms: furnish, supply, give forth

This method generally yields better results.

The new variety of potatoes yields 20% more.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 24:5:
  The wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children.
- 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
  […] We'll visit Caliban, my slave, who never / Yields us kind answer.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
  Vines yield nectar.
- 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Protheans: Data Discs Codex entry:
  Despite all the evidence confirming the existence of the Protheans, little is known about their culture and society. From time to time, dig sites will yield new clues, but after 50,000 years of decay, little of value is unearthed.
1. To produce as return from an investment.
  Historically, that security yields a high return.
2. (mathematics) To produce as a result.
  Synonyms: make, equal
  
  Adding 3 and 4 yields a result of 7.
3. (linguistics) To produce a particular sound as the result of a sound law.
  Indo-European p- yields Germanic f-.
4. (obsolete) To give in payment; repay, recompense; reward; requite.
  - c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iv]:
    God 'ild [yield] you, sir!
  - c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:
    Tend me to-night two hours, I ask no more, / And the gods yield you for 't.
  - 1623 January 5 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, “The Spanish Curat”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act IV, scene v:
    God yield thee, and God thank ye.
  - 1874, Alfred Tennyson, “Gareth and Lynette”, in Idylls of the King (The Works of Alfred Tennyson; V), cabinet edition, London: Henry S. King & Co., […], →OCLC, page 38:
    Heaven yield her for it, but in me put force / To weary her ears with one continuous prayer, / Until she let me fly discaged to sweep / In ever-highering eagle-circles up / To the great Sun of Glory, […]
To give up; to surrender or capitulate.
1. Synonyms: submit, cede, give up
  
  Near-synonyms: succumb, relent, defer
2. (ambitransitive) To give as demanded; to relinquish.
  Synonyms: give way, give in, trade away
  
  They refuse to yield to the enemy.
  
  Eventually she stopped arguing and yielded the point.
  - c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:
    Won with thy words, & conquered with thy lookes, / I yeeld my ſelfe, my men & horſe to thee: / To be partaker of thy good or ill, / As long as life maintaines Theridimas.
  - 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
    I'll make him yield the crown.
  - 1667, John Milton, “Book XI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
    Shall yield up all their virtue, all their fame.
3. (ambitransitive, especially US and Canada) To give way so as to allow another to pass first.
  Yield the right of way to pedestrians.
  
  It is not clear from the road markings who is supposed to yield at the junction.
4. (intransitive) To give way under force; to succumb to a force.
  I put my shoulder into the door, but it did not yield.
  - 1833 October 20 (date written), Alfred Tennyson, “Ulysses”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 91:
    One equal temper of heroic hearts, / Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will / To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
  - 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XL”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 62:
    ⁠For though my nature rarely yields
    ⁠To that vague fear implied in death;
    ⁠Nor shudders at the gulfs beneath,
    The howlings from forgotten fields; […]
  - 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable and Company, […], →OCLC:
    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.
5. (computing, intransitive) Of a running thread or process: to give control back to the parent program or operating system so that other threads or processes can be allowed to run.
  The system froze because the buggy program got into an infinite loop and didn't yield.
6. (engineering, materials science, of a material specimen) To pass the material's yield point and undergo plastic deformation.
7. (rare) To admit to be true; to concede; to allow.
  - 1667, John Milton, “Book XI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
    I yield it just, said Adam, and submit.

Derived terms

Translations

to give way

Bulgarian: отстъпвам (bg) (otstăpvam)
Catalan: cedir (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 讓步 / 让步 (zh) (ràngbù)
Czech: dát přednost
Danish: give efter (da)
Dutch: belonen (nl), verlenen (nl), afstaan (nl)
Esperanto: cedi (eo)
Finnish: taipua (fi), antaa tietä, väistää (fi)
French: céder (fr), laisser passer (fr)
Georgian: დათმობა (datmoba)
German: nachgeben (de), Platz machen, Vorfahrt gewähren (automotive), vorbeilassen (de), gewähren (de)
Greek:
Ancient Greek: παραχωρέω (parakhōréō)
Hungarian: átenged (hu), elsőbbséget ad
Ingrian: antiissa
Irish: géill slí
Italian: cedere (it), dare la precedenza
Japanese: 譲る (ja) (ゆずる, yuzuru)
Korean: please add this translation if you can
Latin: cēdō (la), dēcēdō
Māori: ngaeki, tautuku, ngawhere
Norwegian: svikte, gi etter (no)
Occitan: cedir (oc)
Old English: būgan
Polish: ustąpić (pl) pf, ustępować (pl) impf
Portuguese: dar preferência, ceder passagem
Romanian: închina (ro), ceda trecerea
Russian: уступа́ть (ru) (ustupátʹ)
Slovak: podať sa, pustiť, ustúpiť, dať prednosť
Spanish: ceder (es), ceder el paso
Swedish: väja (sv)
Turkish: sağlamak (tr), yol vermek (tr)
Welsh: ildio

to give as required

Albanian: dorëzoj (sq)
Arabic: أَجْزَأَ (ʔajzaʔa), أَجْزَى (ʔajzā), أَدَرَّ (ʔadarra), أَغَلَّ (ʔaḡalla), أَكْسَبَ (ʔaksaba), أَمَّنَ (ʔammana), حَقَّقَ (ḥaqqaqa), دَرَّ (ar) (darra), رَجَعَ بِـ (rajaʕa bi-), سَحَبَ (saḥaba), عادَ ( عليه ) بِـ
Aramaic:
Syriac: ܢܬܠ (netel)
Bulgarian: предавам се (predavam se)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 降服 (zh) (xiángfú), 屈服 (zh) (qūfú)
Czech: podřídit se
Danish: vige (da)
Dutch: zwichten (nl), capituleren (nl), overgeven (nl)
Finnish: myöntää (fi)
French: se rendre (fr), céder (fr), capituler (fr)
Galician: render (gl)
German: aufgeben (de), übergeben (de)
Hungarian: enged (hu), megadja magát, behódol (hu), átenged (hu), átad (hu), lemond (hu), felad (hu)
Italian: cedere (it), arrendersi (it), arrendere (it)
Japanese: 譲る (ja) (ゆずる, yuzuru)
Korean: please add this translation if you can
Latin: obsequor
Norwegian: yte
Occitan: cedir (oc), capitular (oc), plegar (oc), se rendre
Portuguese: ceder (pt)
Russian: возвраща́ть (ru) (vozvraščátʹ), (to give as required) отдава́ть (ru) (otdavátʹ), (surrender or capitulate) сдава́ться (ru) (sdavátʹsja)
Spanish: ceder (es)
Swedish: ge vika (sv)
Turkish: ürün vermek

to produce as return

Bulgarian: раждам (реколта) (raždam (rekolta)), произвеждам (bg) (proizveždam)
Catalan: produir (ca), rendir (ca), generar (ca), retre (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 產量 / 产量 (zh) (chǎnliàng), 產生 / 产生 (zh) (chǎnshēng)
Czech: vynést
Danish: give (da)
Finnish: tuottaa (fi)
French: rapporter (fr), retourner (fr)
Galician: render (gl)
Georgian: მიღება (miɣeba), წარმოება (c̣armoeba)
German: (Ertrag) abwerfen (de), bringen (de), erbringen (de)
Hungarian: jövedelmez (hu), terem (hu), hoz (hu), ad (hu)
Ido: rentifar (io), produktar (io)
Italian: restituire (it)
Japanese: もたらす (ja) (motarasu)
Korean: 생산하다 (ko) (saengsanhada)
Norwegian: multiplisere
Occitan: raportar (oc), rendre (oc), dar (oc), donar (oc)
Portuguese: resultar (pt)
Russian: дава́ть (ru) (davátʹ), приводи́ть к (privodítʹ k), (in some cases) производи́ть (ru) (proizvodítʹ)
Spanish: producir (es), dar (es), rendir (es), arrojar (es), proporcionar (es), generar (es), redituar (es), rentar (es), brindar (es), render (es) (dated)
Swedish: ge (sv)
Tagalog: maghatag
Welsh: cynhyrchu
Woiwurrung: woort tanoo

to produce as a result

Bulgarian: давам (bg) (davam), нося (bg) (nosja)
Catalan: donar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 得出 (zh) (déchū)
Czech: přinést výsledky
Danish: resultere i
Dutch: voortbrengen (nl)
Finnish: tuottaa (fi)
French: retourner (fr)
German: ergeben (de)
Hungarian: ad (hu), eredményez (hu)
Italian: produrre (it)
Japanese: になり (ninari), となる (tonaru)
Korean: please add this translation if you can
Latin: pariō (la)
Norwegian: resultere i
Polish: dawać (pl) impf
Portuguese: resultar (pt)
Russian: приводи́ть к (privodítʹ k), результироваться (ru) (rezulʹtirovatʹsja)
Spanish: arrojar (es), dar (es), producir (es), presentar (es)
Swedish: ge (sv)
Tagalog: maghatag
Welsh: cynhyrchu

Noun

yield (countable and uncountable, plural yields)

A product.
- 1902, Traill, H. D.; Mann, James Saumarez, Social England : a record of the progress of the people in religion, laws, learning, arts, industry, commerce, science, literature and manners, from the earliest times to the present day‎^[1], page lxxxviii:
  In the case of countries more favoured by climate than Britain their earliest trade with the foreigner which history has to record is usually in the surface products of the earth—in corn or wine, in the yields of the olive-grove or the orchard.
The quantity of something produced.
1. (agriculture) Measurement of the amount of a crop harvested, or animal products such as wool, meat or milk produced, per unit area of land.
  Zucchini plants always seem to produce a high yield of fruit.
2. (forestry, fishery) The harvestable population growth of an ecosystem.
3. (chemistry) The amount of product obtained in a chemical reaction.
4. (hydrology) The volume of water escaping from a spring.
6. The explosive energy value of a bomb, especially a nuclear weapon, usually expressed in tons of TNT equivalent.
7. (finance) Profit earned from an investment; return on investment.
  - 2019 August 22, “What is the yield curve and why it matters”, in CNN‎^[2], Atlanta, Ga.: Warner Bros. Discovery, archived from the original on 25 March 2026:
    A yield curve inversion happens when long-term bond yields fall below short-term bond yields. That rarely occurs. Before this month, that section of the yield curve hadn’t inverted since 2007, just before the Great Recession.
  - 2022 October 8, Julia Horowitz, “How meltdown in a $1 trillion market brought the UK to the brink of a financial crisis”, in CNN‎^[3], Atlanta, Ga.: Warner Bros. Discovery, archived from the original on 23 November 2025:
    When bond yields rise slowly over time, it’s not a problem for pensions deploying LDI strategies, and actually helps their finances.
8. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (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^[4], volume 408, number 8843, archived from the original on 12 November 2020, 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.
(engineering, material science) yield strength of a material.
(programming) The situation where a thread relinquishes the processor to allow other threads to execute.
(obsolete or dialectal) Payment; money; tribute.