Gilead

Proper noun

Gilead

1. A region east of the Jordan river.
   • Is there no balme in Gilead? is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recouered?1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jeremiah 8:22
   • Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—tell me—tell me, I implore!1845 February, — Quarles [pseudonym; Edgar Allan Poe], “The Raven”, in The American Review, volume I, number II, New York, N.Y.; London: Wiley & Putnam, […], →OCLC
2. A male given name from Hebrew in occasional use.
   • "That's Gil's name: Gilead Bryan. I'd been assuming it was Gilbert." Nandina stopped stirring the soup and said, "Gilead. Like the song?"2012, Anne Tyler, The Beginner's Goodbye, Chatto & Windus, →ISBN, pages 92–93
3. (derogatory) An illiberal and oppressive place, especially on matters related to women's rights, reproduction, or sex (from the theocratic dystopia in Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale).
   • Another wrote: "Just to clarify women who chose not to take their husband's surname or have children with a partner they are not married to will be subject to increased border measures. This is what freedom looks like under a Tory government? Straight out of Gilead."2018 August 3, Nicola Oakley, Emma Gill, “Parents with different surnames to their kids face questioning at UK airports on family holidays”, in Mirror (UK)
   • On Tuesday, the ACLU filed an official complaint with Meijer Pharmacy’s CEO for an incident that’s straight out of Gilead.2018 October 18, Elura Nanos, “‘Good Catholic’ Pharmacist Doesn’t Know Difference Between Miscarriage and Abortion, But He’ll Learn in Court”, in Law & Crime, archived from the original on 13 Nov 2019
4. A suburb of Sydney in the Campbelltown council area, New South Wales, Australia.