walt

See also: Walt, Wält, and WALT

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English walten, from Old English wæltan, weltan, wieltan, wyltan, wiltan, from Proto-West Germanic *waltijan, from Proto-Germanic *waltijaną (“to roll; roll about”), from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“to turn; wind; twist”). Cognate with German wälzen (“to wallow; roll”), Danish vælte (“to tumble; overthrow”), Swedish välta (“to roll; tumble over; overthrow”). Related to waltz.

Alternative forms

• vault

Verb

walt (third-person singular simple present walts, present participle walting, simple past and past participle walted)

1. (intransitive, dialectal or obsolete) To roll; tumble
2. (transitive, dialectal or obsolete) To turn; cast; hurl; fling; overturn

Derived terms

• rewalt

Etymology 2

From Middle English *walt, from Old English *wealt (attested in unwealt (“not given to roll; steady”), sinwealt (“circular, eternally rolling”)), from Proto-Germanic *waltaz (“changing; unstable”), from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“to turn; wind; twist”).

Adjective

walt (comparative more walt, superlative most walt)

1. (archaic, nautical) unsteady; crank

Derived terms

• walty

German

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

walt

1. singular imperative of walten

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *walþu.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /walt/, [wɒɫt]

Noun

walt n

1. forest, wood

Inflection

Like other u-stem nouns, walt likely became an a-stem over time:

Declension of walt

	Singular	Plural
nominative	walt	walt
accusative	walt	walt
genitive	waldes, -is	waldo
dative	walde, -i	waldon

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: wout
  • Dutch: woud
  • Limburgish: waadj

Further reading

• “walt”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *wald, from Proto-Germanic *waldą (“power, authority”), whence also Old English weald, Old Norse vald.

Noun

walt m

1. authority

Noun

walt f

1. authority

Descendants

(From the related giwalt:)

• Middle High German: gewalt
  • German: Gewalt
  • Hunsrik: Gewalt
  • Luxembourgish: Gewalt
  • Pennsylvania German: Gewalt
  • Yiddish: געװאַלד (gevald), געוואַלט (gevalt), גװאַלד (gvald), גוואַלט (gvalt)