Etymologically
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glass

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 17:58. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ɡlɑːs/, US /ɡlæs/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English glas,[2][3] inherited from Old English glæs (“glass; a glass vessel”),[4][2] from Proto-Germanic *glasam (“glass”),[4][5] from Proto-Indo-European *ghel- (“to shine”),[4][2] the root of many words for bright colors and materials.[4] It is cognate with Old Saxon and Dutch glas and German Glas,[4][2] and by a variant form with Old Norse gler.[5][6] Related words are Old English glǣr and Latin glaesum “amber”,[4][5] and Merriam-Webster also compares Old English geolu “yellow”.[3] The substance itself goes back to ancient Mesopotamia or Phoenicia.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The substance, and a glass vessel: Old English, about 750 in Barnhart[2] and about 888 in the OED.[8]

Semantic evolution

The restricted sense “drinking glass” is from the early 13th century, and now excludes other glass vessels;[4] the liquor it holds, and drink, are from 1392–93.[8] A mirror is from the 14th century,[4] an hourglass from the 1550s and an optical instrument from the 1610s.[4] Glasses, “spectacles”, date from the mid-18th century; earlier people used a single glass or eyeglass.[7] A glasshouse was a glass factory from the late 14th century and a greenhouse from 1838.[4] The proverb about people who live in glass houses dates from the 17th century, as in John Ray's Handbook of Proverbs (1670).[7][4] The verb, “to fit with glass”, is from the late 14th century.[4] The glass ceiling, an unofficial barrier to advancement at work, especially for women, was first spoken of in the early 1980s.[7] Glaze comes from glass.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 750 – Old English glæs.[2]
  • early 13th century – a drinking glass.[4]
  • 14th century – a mirror.[4]
  • late 14th century – verb, to fit with glass.[4]
  • 1550s – an hourglass.[4]
  • 1610s – an optical instrument.[4]
  • mid-18th century – glasses, spectacles.[7]
  • early 1980s – glass ceiling.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A hard, brittle, usually transparent material made by melting sand with soda and lime.
  2. A drinking vessel made of glass, or the amount it holds.
  3. Objects made of glass collectively; glassware.
  4. A mirror; a lens, telescope or barometer.
  5. glasses: A pair of lenses in a frame to correct eyesight; spectacles.

Verb

  1. To fit or enclose with glass.
  2. To scan with binoculars or a telescope.

Word family

  • glassful
  • glassless
  • glasslike
  • glaze
  • glazier
  • glazing
  • glare
  • gleam
  • glint
  • glisten
  • yellow
  • glassy

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press