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From Old Norse gjǫrð (whence the Icelandic gjörð), akin to Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌳𐌰 (gairda), German Gurt. Cognate with Albanian ngërthej (to tie, bind, fasten).



girth (plural girths)

  1. The distance measured around an object.
  2. A band passed under the belly of an animal to hold various types of saddles in place.
    • 1929, Baldwyn Dyke Acland, chapter 8, Filibuster[1]:
      He was standing on the offside of his horse, holding up the flap of his saddle, with the surcingle loosened, and was pointing to the girths. Close to their attachment to the saddle they had been almost cut through with a knife.
  3. The part of an animal around which the girth fits.
  4. (informal) One's waistline circumference, most often a large one.
    • Addison
      He's a lusty, jolly fellow, that lives well, at least three yards in the girth.
  5. A small horizontal brace or girder.
  6. (graph theory) The length of the shortest cycle in a graph.




girth (third-person singular simple present girths, present participle girthing, simple past and past participle girthed)

  1. To bind as if with a girth or band.