Definition of: guild

(gild) noun
1. A corporation or association of persons engaged in kindred pursuits for mutual protection, aid, etc., known in England from the seventh century.
2. A church or religious association organized for benevolent and other parish work.
3. Ecol. a One of four groups of plants having characteristic modes of life, namely, the lianas, epiphytes, saprophytes, and parasites. b A group of plants which, under certain ecological conditions, adapt themselves in mass to a new locality. Also spelled gild. ♦ Homophone: gild. [Fusion of OE gild payment, gegyld association, and ON gildi payment]
—guild′ship noun
—guilds′man noun