"gild the lily" meaning in English

See gild the lily in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

IPA: /ˈɡɪld ðə ˈlɪli/ Audio: en-us-gild the lily.ogg , en-au-gild the lily.ogg Forms: gilds the lily [present, singular, third-person], gilding the lily [participle, present], gilded the lily [participle, past], gilded the lily [past]
Etymology: A common misquotation of a line from William Shakespeare's play King John. Etymology templates: {{smallcaps|Salisbury}} Salisbury Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} gild the lily (third-person singular simple present gilds the lily, present participle gilding the lily, simple past and past participle gilded the lily)
  1. (idiomatic) To embellish or improve something unnecessarily. Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: go overboard, over-egg the pudding Related terms: gold-plated Translations (to improve unnecessarily): 畫蛇添足 (Chinese Mandarin), 画蛇添足 (huàshétiānzú) (Chinese Mandarin), overbrodere (Danish), kruusata (Finnish), unnötig ausschmücken (German), des Guten zu viel tun (German), infronzolare (Italian), agghindare (Italian), azzimare (Italian), 画蛇添足 (gada tensoku) (alt: がだてんそく) (Japanese), przedobrzać [imperfective] (Polish), przedobrzyć [perfective] (Polish), переборщи́ти (pereborščýty) (Ukrainian), переприкра́сити (pereprykrásyty) (Ukrainian)
    Sense id: en-gild_the_lily-en-verb-9rTrvyrn Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Danish translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Italian translations, Terms with Japanese translations, Terms with Korean translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Ukrainian translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 90 10 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 77 23 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 87 13 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 90 10 Disambiguation of Terms with Danish translations: 91 9 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 83 17 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 83 17 Disambiguation of Terms with Italian translations: 84 16 Disambiguation of Terms with Japanese translations: 84 16 Disambiguation of Terms with Korean translations: 83 17 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 86 14 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 81 19 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 85 15 Disambiguation of Terms with Ukrainian translations: 83 17 Disambiguation of 'to improve unnecessarily': 98 2
  2. To add superfluous attributes to something. Translations (to add superfluous attributes): overbrodere (Danish), maalailla (Finnish), übertreiben (German), infronzolare (Italian), rizar el rizo (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-gild_the_lily-en-verb-kQIM-Res Disambiguation of 'to add superfluous attributes': 2 98

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "Salisbury"
      },
      "expansion": "Salisbury",
      "name": "smallcaps"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "A common misquotation of a line from William Shakespeare's play King John.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "gilds the lily",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gilding the lily",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gilded the lily",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gilded the lily",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "gild the lily (third-person singular simple present gilds the lily, present participle gilding the lily, simple past and past participle gilded the lily)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "90 10",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "77 23",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "87 13",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "90 10",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "91 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Danish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "83 17",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "83 17",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "84 16",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Italian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "84 16",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Japanese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "83 17",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Korean translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "86 14",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "81 19",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "85 15",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "83 17",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Ukrainian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To embellish or improve something unnecessarily."
      ],
      "id": "en-gild_the_lily-en-verb-9rTrvyrn",
      "links": [
        [
          "embellish",
          "embellish"
        ],
        [
          "improve",
          "improve"
        ],
        [
          "unnecessarily",
          "unnecessarily"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To embellish or improve something unnecessarily."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "64 36",
          "word": "gold-plated"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "go overboard"
        },
        {
          "word": "over-egg the pudding"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
          "word": "畫蛇添足"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "huàshétiānzú",
          "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
          "word": "画蛇添足"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
          "word": "overbrodere"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
          "word": "kruusata"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
          "word": "unnötig ausschmücken"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
          "word": "des Guten zu viel tun"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
          "word": "infronzolare"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
          "word": "agghindare"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
          "word": "azzimare"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "alt": "がだてんそく",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "gada tensoku",
          "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
          "word": "画蛇添足"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "przedobrzać"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "przedobrzyć"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "pereborščýty",
          "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
          "word": "переборщи́ти"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "pereprykrásyty",
          "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
          "word": "переприкра́сити"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "To add superfluous attributes to something."
      ],
      "id": "en-gild_the_lily-en-verb-kQIM-Res",
      "links": [
        [
          "superfluous",
          "superfluous"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "2 98",
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "to add superfluous attributes",
          "word": "overbrodere"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 98",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to add superfluous attributes",
          "word": "maalailla"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 98",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to add superfluous attributes",
          "word": "übertreiben"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 98",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "to add superfluous attributes",
          "word": "infronzolare"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 98",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to add superfluous attributes",
          "word": "rizar el rizo"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈɡɪld ðə ˈlɪli/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-gild the lily.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e5/En-us-gild_the_lily.ogg/En-us-gild_the_lily.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/En-us-gild_the_lily.ogg"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-gild the lily.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/46/En-au-gild_the_lily.ogg/En-au-gild_the_lily.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/En-au-gild_the_lily.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "gild the lily"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English terms first attested in Shakespeare",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Requests for review of Korean translations",
    "Terms with Danish translations",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Italian translations",
    "Terms with Japanese translations",
    "Terms with Korean translations",
    "Terms with Mandarin translations",
    "Terms with Polish translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "Terms with Ukrainian translations"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "Salisbury"
      },
      "expansion": "Salisbury",
      "name": "smallcaps"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "A common misquotation of a line from William Shakespeare's play King John.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "gilds the lily",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gilding the lily",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gilded the lily",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gilded the lily",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "gild the lily (third-person singular simple present gilds the lily, present participle gilding the lily, simple past and past participle gilded the lily)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "gold-plated"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To embellish or improve something unnecessarily."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "embellish",
          "embellish"
        ],
        [
          "improve",
          "improve"
        ],
        [
          "unnecessarily",
          "unnecessarily"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To embellish or improve something unnecessarily."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "go overboard"
        },
        {
          "word": "over-egg the pudding"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "To add superfluous attributes to something."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "superfluous",
          "superfluous"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈɡɪld ðə ˈlɪli/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-gild the lily.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e5/En-us-gild_the_lily.ogg/En-us-gild_the_lily.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/En-us-gild_the_lily.ogg"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-gild the lily.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/46/En-au-gild_the_lily.ogg/En-au-gild_the_lily.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/En-au-gild_the_lily.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
      "word": "畫蛇添足"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "huàshétiānzú",
      "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
      "word": "画蛇添足"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
      "word": "overbrodere"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
      "word": "kruusata"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
      "word": "unnötig ausschmücken"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
      "word": "des Guten zu viel tun"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
      "word": "infronzolare"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
      "word": "agghindare"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
      "word": "azzimare"
    },
    {
      "alt": "がだてんそく",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "gada tensoku",
      "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
      "word": "画蛇添足"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "przedobrzać"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "przedobrzyć"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "pereborščýty",
      "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
      "word": "переборщи́ти"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "pereprykrásyty",
      "sense": "to improve unnecessarily",
      "word": "переприкра́сити"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "to add superfluous attributes",
      "word": "overbrodere"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to add superfluous attributes",
      "word": "maalailla"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to add superfluous attributes",
      "word": "übertreiben"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "to add superfluous attributes",
      "word": "infronzolare"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to add superfluous attributes",
      "word": "rizar el rizo"
    }
  ],
  "word": "gild the lily"
}

Download raw JSONL data for gild the lily meaning in English (4.5kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.