"G" Word Origins

glamour

Middle English

From Scots glamour ("magic"), an alteration of Middle English gramere, the ancestor of "grammar" — magic and learning were once closely linked in folk belief.

glance

Old French

From Middle English glenchen, "to strike a glancing blow" or "to dodge aside," blending an Old French word for sliding on ice with another meaning "to swerve or dodge."

gland

Latin · 1600

Borrowed in the late 1600s from French glande, ultimately from Latin glandula, "little acorn" — glands were named for their shape.

glanders

Origin

From Middle English glandres, glaundres, from Old French glandres, plural of Old French glandre, from Latin glandula. Doublet of glandule.

glandular

French

Mid 18th century borrowing from French glandulaire, from glandule (“small gland”) + -aire (“-ar, -ary”, adjectival suffix), from Latin glandulae (“glands of the throat”); equivalent to glandule + -ar.

glandule

Origin

Borrowed from Latin glandula, from glans + -ulus. Doublet of glanders.

glandulous

Origin

Borrowed from Late Latin glandulōsus, from Latin glandula. By surface analysis, glandule + -ous.

glans

Origin

Learned borrowing from Latin glāns (“acorn”).

glare

Old English

From Middle English glaren, related to Old English and Germanic words meaning "to glisten" or "to shine brightly" — the same root family as glass and glower.

glaring

Origin

Formed from glare plus the suffix -ing.

Glasgow

Origin

From a Brythonic Celtic phrase meaning roughly "the dear green place," combining words for "green" and "hollow."

glass

Old English

From Old English glæs, going back to a Germanic root possibly related to "glow" or "shine" — glass was named for the way it reflects and catches light.

glassful

Origin

From Middle English glas fulle, glasseful; equivalent to glass + -ful.

glasshouse

Origin

From Middle English glasehows, glashous, glashows; equivalent to glass + house.

glassware

Origin

Formed from glass plus -ware, the same suffix seen in "silverware" and "tableware."

glasswork

Origin

From glass + work.

glassy

Middle English

From Middle English glasy, formed from glass plus the adjective suffix -y.

Glastonbury

Old English

From Old English Glæstingaburg, "the fortified place of the Glæstingas people."

glaucoma

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek glaukoma, meaning a clouding of the eye's lens, related to a word for a blue-grey colour.

glaum

Origin

Alteration of dialectal clam, claum (“to grope or grasp ineffectually, snatch”), from Middle English *clammen, *clemmen, from Old English clæmman, clemman, from Proto-West Germanic *klammjan, from Proto-Germanic *klamjaną. In some senses, likely influenced by clamber. Compare dialectal glaump, glamp (“to grasp, snatch at, clutch, grope", also "gulp”), Scots clam, claum (“to grope or grasp ineffectually, snatch”), Norwegian klemme (“to seize with claws”), Middle High German klemmen (“to squeeze”). Doublet of glom. Related also to English clamp.

glaze

Old English

From Middle English glasen, "to fit with glass," from Old English glæs, "glass" — the sense of a shiny coating grew out of the idea of a glass-like finish.

glazer

Origin

From Middle English glaser, variant of glasier; equivalent to glaze + -er; compare glazier.

glazier

Origin

From Middle English glazier, glasier, glasyer, glasiere, variants (due to influence from words in -yer) of Middle English glaser, equivalent to glass + -er.

glazing

Middle English

From Middle English glasynge, formed from glaze plus -ing.

gleam

Old English

From Old English glæm, "a shaft of light or radiance," from a Germanic root meaning "brightness" or "splendour."

glean

Late Latin

From Old French glener, "to gather," ultimately from Late Latin glennare, "to make a collection."

gleaner

Origin

From Middle English glenar, glenere, equivalent to glean + -er.

Gleason

Irish

Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Glasáin (“descendant of Glasán”), a personal name which derives from a diminutive form of glas (“green, blue, grey”).

glee

Old English · 1500

From Old English gleo, "mirth, entertainment, or music," a word that fell out of use by 1500 but was revived in the late 1700s.

gleeful

Origin

From glee + -ful.

gleek

Origin

From Middle French glic, from Old French glic (“a game of cards”), of Germanic origin from or related to Middle High German glücke, gelücke (“luck”) and Middle Dutch gelīc (“like, alike”). More at luck, like.

gleesome

Origin

From glee + -some. Compare Yola gleezom (“joy”).

gleesomeness

Origin

From gleesome + -ness.

gleet

Origin

Old French glette.

glen

Scottish Gaelic

From Scottish Gaelic and Irish gleann, "mountain valley."

Glenda

Welsh · 1900

Coined in the twentieth century from Welsh glân ("holy, fair") and da ("good").

Glendale

Origin

From glen ("narrow valley") and dale ("valley").

glenys

Origin

A twentieth century coinage from Welsh glân (“clean, holy”) + -ys.

glib

German

A shortened form of an older word, glibbery, meaning "slippery" — related to Dutch and Low German words for "slippery."

glibbery

Origin

From Low German glibberig, glibberich (“slippery”). or Dutch glibberig (“slippery”).

Glick

Origin

A variant of the surname Gluck.

glide

Old English

From Old English glidan, going back to a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to slide" or "to move smoothly."

glider

Origin

From glide plus the agent suffix -er.

gliding

Origin

From glide + -ing.

glim

Origin

From Middle English glim, glimme (“radiance; shining brightness”), of uncertain further origin. Perhaps from Old English gleomu (“splendor”) and/or Old Norse *glim, *glima, both apparently from Proto-Germanic *glimō, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰley- (“to gleam, shimmer, glow”). Compare Norwegian Nynorsk glim, dialectal Old Swedish glim, glimma.

glimmer

Middle English

From Middle English glimeren, formed from an old root meaning "to shine" plus a suffix showing repeated action — a doublet of glimpse.

glimpse

Middle English

From an obsolete Middle English word glimsen, meaning "to glisten" or "to glance with the eyes," related to glimmer.

glint

Middle English

Borrowed from Scots glint, from Middle English glenten, "to shine or flash," and reintroduced into wider literary English by the poet Robert Burns.