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Origin and history of yard

yard(n.1)

"relatively small patch of ground around a dwelling," Middle English yerd, from Old English geard "fenced enclosure, garden, court; residence, house," from Proto-Germanic *gardan-, a word of uncertain origin; perhaps (Watkins) from PIE *ghor-to-, suffixed form of root *gher- (1) "to grasp, enclose," with derivatives meaning "enclosure."

As enclosure in which any work or business is carried on, by late 14c. As "college campus enclosed by the main buildings," 1630s. As "prison enclosure for outdoor exercise," by 1777. In railway usage, "ground adjacent to a train station or terminus, used for switching or coupling trains," 1827. Yard sale, a commercial offering of miscellaneous second-hand items on the front lawn of a private house, is attested by 1965.

Germanic cognates include Old Norse garðr "enclosure, garden, yard;" Old Frisian garda, Dutch gaard, Old High German garto, German Garten "garden;" Gothic gards "house," garda "stall" (n.).

yard(n.2)

stadard unit of English long measure, Middle English yerd, from Old English gerd (Mercian), gierd (West Saxon) "rod, staff, pole, stick;" also a measure of length," from Proto-Germanic *gazdjo "stick, rod," reconstructed to be from PIE root *ghazdh-o- "rod, staff, pole" (source also of Latin hasta "shaft, staff").

The nautical yard-arm, a long spar tapered at both ends and lashed to the mast of a ship from which certain sails are suspended, retains the otherwise obsolete original sense of "rod, staff." Yard in the nautical sense is by late 13c. (as in man the yards and like expressions).

As a unit of length, in Anglo-Saxon times a land measure of roughly 5 meters (later called rod (n.), pole, or perch (n.1)). The yard measure of three feet is attested from late Old English. Especially by late 14c. as a standard measure for cloth (a rough equivalent for commercial measure was the ell of 45 inches, and the verge).

Middle English yerd (Old English gierd) also was "yard-land, yard of land," a varying measure but often about 30 acres or a quarter of a hide.

Germanic cognates include Old Saxon gerda, Old Frisian ierde, Dutch gard "rod;" Old High German garta, German gerte "switch, twig," Old Norse gaddr "spike, sting, nail."

The slang meaning "one hundred dollars" is attested by 1926, American English. In Middle English and after, the word also was a euphemism for "penis" (as in "Love's Labour's Lost," V.ii.676).

Entries linking to yard

ell(n.1)

unit of measure, Old English eln, originally "forearm, length of the arm" (as a measure, anywhere from a foot and a half to two feet), from PIE root *el- "elbow, forearm." The exact distance varied, in part depending on whose arm was used as the base and whether it was measured from the shoulder to the fingertip or the wrist: the Scottish ell was 37.2 inches, the Flemish 27 inches. Latin ulna also was a unit of linear measure, and compare cubit. The modern English unit of 45 inches seems to have been set in Tudor times.

Whereas shee tooke an inche of liberty before, tooke an ell afterwardes [Humfrey Gifford, "A Posie of Gilloflowers," 1580].

perch(n.1)

"rod or pole on which a bird alights and rests," late 13c., originally only "a pole, rod, stick, stake," from Old French perche "unit of linear measurement" (5.5 yards), also "measuring rod, pole, bar" used to measure this length (13c.), from Latin pertica "pole, long staff, measuring rod," which is related to Oscan perek "pole," Umbrian perkaf "twigs, rods." Meaning "a bar fixed horizontally for a hawk or tame bird to rest on" is attested from late 14c.; this led to the general sense of "any thing that any bird alights or rests on" (late 15c.). Figurative sense of "an elevated or secure position" is recorded from 1520s.