Standard Lemma guide

gelid

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈd͡ʒɛl.ɪd/
  • General-American: /ˈd͡ʒɛl.əd/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Very cold; icy or frosty; frigid.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: literary

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

extremely cold

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • an arctic climate
  • a frigid day
  • gelid waters of the North Atlantic
  • glacial winds
  • icy hands
  • polar weather

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: arctic, frigid, glacial, icy, polar

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gel- Latin gelū̆ Proto-Indo-European *dheh1-der. Proto-Italic *-iðos Latin -idus Latin gelidus English gelid First attested in 1630. From Latin gelidus (“cold”), from gelu (“frost”).

Across languages

Translations

28 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: леден (leden) — very cold; icy
  • Czech: ledový — very cold; icy
  • Czech: krahová — very cold; icy
  • Dutch: ijzig — very cold; icy
  • Finnish: jäätävä — very cold; icy
  • Finnish: jääkylmä — very cold; icy
  • French: froid — very cold; icy
  • French: glacé — very cold; icy
  • French: glacial — very cold; icy
  • Georgian: გაყინული (gaq̇inuli) — very cold; icy
  • Georgian: ყინულოვანი (q̇inulovani) — very cold; icy
  • Georgian: ყინულიანი (q̇inuliani) — very cold; icy
  • Georgian: ცივ-ცივი (civ-civi) — very cold; icy
  • Georgian: ცივი (civi) — very cold; icy
  • German: frostig — very cold; icy
  • German: eisig — very cold; icy
  • German: eiskalt — very cold; icy
  • Italian: gelido — very cold; icy
  • Italian: freddo — very cold; icy
  • Italian: gelato — very cold; icy
  • Italian: ghiacciato — very cold; icy
  • Portuguese: gélido — very cold; icy
  • Russian: ледяно́й (ledjanój) — very cold; icy
  • Spanish: gélido — very cold; icy
  • Swedish: iskall — very cold; icy
  • Swedish: frusen — very cold; icy
  • Ukrainian: льодовий (lʹodovyj) — very cold; icy
  • Ukrainian: крижаний (kryžanyj) — very cold; icy