A voluntary association of persons pursuing the same trade, art, profession, or business, such as printers, goldsmiths, wool merchants, etc., united under a distinct organization of their own. analogous to that of a corporation, regulating the affairs of their trade or business by thelr own laws and rules, and aiming, by co-operation and organization, to protect and promote the in-terests of their common vocation. In medieval history these fraternities or guilds played an important part in the government of some states; as at Florence, in the thirteenth and following centuries, where they chose the council of government of the city. But with the growth of cities and the ad-vance in the organization of municipal gov-ernment, thelr importance and prestige has declined. The place of meeting of a guild, or assoclatlon of guilds, was called the “Guildhall.” The word is said to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon “gild” or “geld,” a tax or tribute, because each member of the society was required to pay a tax towards its support
Source: Black’s Law Dictionary 2nd Ed (1910)
