guild
Americannoun
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an organization of persons with related interests, goals, etc., especially one formed for mutual aid or protection.
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any of various medieval associations, as of merchants or artisans, organized to maintain standards and to protect the interests of its members, and that sometimes constituted a local governing body.
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Botany. a group of plants, as parasites, having a similar habit of growth and nutrition.
noun
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an organization, club, or fellowship
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(esp in medieval Europe) an association of men sharing the same interests, such as merchants or artisans: formed for mutual aid and protection and to maintain craft standards or pursue some other purpose such as communal worship
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ecology a group of plants, such as a group of epiphytes, that share certain habits or characteristics
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of guild
before 1000; Middle English gild ( e ) < Old Norse gildi guild, payment; replacing Old English gegyld guild; akin to German Geld money, Gothic -gild tax
Explanation
Another word for a club, group, or society is guild, meaning a group of people who have joined together in pursuit of a common interest. Many fraternal and theatrical organizations still maintain buildings called guild halls for meetings and activities. The earliest guilds were for religious purposes as burial societies and offering financial support. In the later Middle Ages, they became organizations to support various trades and crafts. As the forerunners of modern unions, they provided support for their members and were charged with assuring quality in each member's products. The word guild comes originally from the Scandinavian, with roots that mean "payment of tribute," similar to the German gelt ("money"), possibly to reflect the dues paid by members.
Vocabulary lists containing guild
Working Together: The Language of Unions
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "G"
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Vocabulary from an excerpt from "Confessions of a 30-Year-Old Gamer," by Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The newly ratified contract provides some stability in Hollywood, about three years after a summer of strikes led by Writers Guild of America and performers guild SAG-AFTRA.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 26, 2026
Now this seems completely unfair—for Times staff to suggest that Times leadership is being unethical when the union’s own unanswered requests for information clarify that the guild doesn’t yet have the full story.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026
The hardest bosses kill the guild hundreds of times.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 20, 2026
"The butchery trade is hard work," says the butchers' guild head, Joachim Lederer.
From BBC • Mar. 22, 2026
But researchers are apt to lose sight of whom they are writing for, and narcissistically describe the obsessions of their guild rather than what the audience really wants to know.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
