[f. YIELD v. + -ING1.] The action of the verb YIELD.
† 1. Payment; transf. obligation to pay, debt.
1340. Ayenb., 115. Ich am mochel ine dette ayen þe … and … ich ne habbe huer-of maki þe yeldinge. Ibid., 262. Uorlet ous oure yeldinges, ase and we uorleteþ oure yelderes.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 423. Þis is … but ȝilding of dette bi mannus lawe.
2. The giving of something as due, or as a favor; rendering; bestowal.
c. 1340. Richard Rolle of Hampole, Prick of Conscience, 7846. Yheldyng of mede for ilk gud dede.
1382. Wyclif, Ps. cii[i]. 2. And wile thou not forȝete alle the ȝeldingus of hym.
† 3. Repayment, reward, recompense, retribution.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter, xciii[i]. 2. Ȝelde ȝeldynge til proude.
1382. Wyclif, Isa. lxvi. 6. Vois of the Lord ȝeldende ȝelding to his enemys. Ibid., Luke iv. 19. He sente me … to preche the ȝeer of the Lord plesaunt, and the day of ȝeldynge. Ibid. (1388), Ps. cxxx. 3 [cxxxi. 2]. As a child wenyde on his modir, so ȝelding be in my soule.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 537/1. Ȝeldynge, reddicio.
1530. Palsgr., 291/1. Yeldeng, retribution.
4. Production of crops or the like; produce.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Prol., 598. Wel wiste he by the droghte and by the reyn The yeldynge of his seed and of his greyn.
1547–8. in E. Green, Somerset Chantries (1888), 32. A ten[emen]t in Pytmyster … the yelding wherof John fforde … solde unto William Voysey … for xijli. sterling.
1903. Ethel Sigsbee Small, in Smart Set, IX. 127/2. I was looking at the fruit-trees with a farmer’s eye, speculating as to the profit of this year’s yielding.
5. Giving up, giving in, surrender, submission.
c. 1425. Wyntoun, Cron., VIII. xxv. 3833. Syn of þe ȝeldyn [v.r. ȝelding] tretyt þai, Þat gif þai be a certane day War noucht reskewit … Þai sulde gil vp þe towne.
c. 1475. Rauf Coilȝear, 837. ‘Ȝarne efter ȝeilding,’ on ilk syde thay call.
1544. in Leadam, Sel. Cases Crt. Requests (Selden Soc.), 112. To make an yeldynge yf she lyst … by the deliueryng of a mote to any of the seyd tenauntes to the vse of them whom shall please her.
1568. Grafton, Chron., I. 427. Eche part with an hundred Knightes and Esquiers,… to fight and combate to the yeldyng.
1583. Melbancke, Philotimus, R iv. But this, nor anye thinge coulde enforce him to relinquish his suite, sauing the yelding of her battered brest.
1606. Shaks., Tr. & Cr., II. ii. 25. What merit’s in that reason which denies The yeelding of her vp?
1631. Weever, Anc. Funeral Mon., 769. At the battaile, and yeelding vp of Mont de dier.
1711. Shaftesb., Charac., II. 214. A Sacrifice and mutual yielding of Natures one to another.
1818. Keats, Endym., I. 411. She … breath’d a sister’s sorrow to persuade A yielding up.
1885. Athenæum, 17 Oct., 499/2. More or less cowardly yieldings to panic and sedition.
b. Giving way, as to persuasion or the like; compliance, concession, consent.
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., I. i. 118. How well this yeelding rescues thee from shame. Ibid. (1592), Rom. & Jul., II. ii. 105. Therefore pardon me, And not impute this yeelding to light Loue.
1611. Bible, Eccl. x. 4. Yeelding pacifieth great offences.
1634. Canne, Necess. Separ. (1849), 108. Their bare presence argues their approbation and yielding in show to ceremonies.
a. 1647. Clarendon, Hist. Reb., I. § 22 (1702), I. 12. His Yeilding to the violent passion.
1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, IV. vi. He … imputed her yielding, to the ungovernable force of her love towards him.
1844. Kinglake, Eöthen, xv. I can see no limit to the yielding, and bending of his mind when it is worked upon by the idea of power.
1856. Froude, Hist. Eng., II. vii. 130. Nothing was to be gained by yielding in minor points.
6. Giving way, as to pressure or other physical force.
1665. Hooke, Microgr., 41. It is … shrunk,… which is caused by the yielding a little of the hardened Skin to a Contraction.
1683. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., Printing, xxiv. ¶ 7. The softness or yielding of the Paper, Tympan, and Blankets.
1688. Boyle, Final Causes, iv. 176. The Yielding of the Flexible Branch or Twigs whereto the Nest is fastened.
1860. Tyndall, Glac., I. ii. 10. There will be a gradual yielding of its mass under the pressure.
