To grate, scrape, or make a harsh grinding sound; an archaic or dialectal word meaning to grate harshly.
From Old English 'grīdan,' related to Old Norse 'grīða.' The word evolved from Proto-Germanic roots meaning 'to grate' or 'scrape,' and likely imitative in nature, mimicking harsh sounds.
This word is a linguistic relic—it's basically extinct in modern English but still shows up in old poetry and regional dialects. The '-ide' ending appears in other sound-imitation words like 'stride' and 'glide,' suggesting these words evolved from a family of motion verbs.
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