From Middle High German galt. Compare Alemannic German galt (“not milch”), Cimbrian galt (“not milch”), Carinthian galt (“infertile or pregnant (therefore not milch)”), Swabian gall (“(of sheep) not pregnant”), German gelt (“infertile”), Tyrolean galt (“unfarmed land”), Danish gold (“barren; sterile; not milch”), Old Swedish galdvider (“barren tree”).