Hm, "gelten" has several fields of meaning - I doubt you will find one word in another language that happens to encompass all of them. But then again, the same is true for most words, right?

Gelten - to be valid, to count: Die Fahrkarte gilt nicht mehr (that ticket is expired). Das gilt nicht! (that shouldn't count!) 

==> nichts gelten = be worth nothing: So ein Diplom gilt hier nichts (we do not care for this kind of degree here) 

Gelten - to be accepted as, to be considered as: Er gilt als gebildet (he is considered an educated person); er gilt als einer der besten Autoren (he is said to be one of the best authors)

More specialized meanings:

Gelten - to acquire social standing: Er möchte gern etwas gelten (he yearns to become accepted/admired (by society))

Gelten - to be important, the crucial moment: Jetzt gilt es = jetzt kommt es darauf an, this is the critical moment

Gelten - to be meant for: die Bermerkung galt nicht Dir, sondern ihm (that remark was not meant for you but for him)

As you can see, the general meanings all have something to do with something being valued / considered valable and the other meanings are branching out from there. If you get the first two meanings you should be in good shape :-).