Etymologically
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glaze

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English glasen (“to fit with glass”),[2][3][4][5] a verb from Middle English glas (“glass”),[3][4][6][7][8] which continues Old English glæs,[9][8] from Proto-Germanic *glasą.[10] The Shorter Oxford and Weekley compare the formation of graze from grass,[11][12] and the OED compares Middle High German glasen.[3][11] Etymonline and Barnhart think the form with -z- was probably influenced by glazier, which is recorded earlier.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To fit a window with glass: about 1369, in Chaucer's Book of the Duchess.[3][5] Etymonline dates the verb to the late 14th century.[4]

Semantic evolution

From fitting windows with glass, the verb passed by about 1400 to covering pottery with a glassy substance fixed by heat,[3][4] and by about 1440 to making anything shine like glass.[3] In Shakespeare's Richard II (1597) eyes are glazed with tears; in the 17th century the verb was also used of frost (1627) and of painters laying a thin transparent colour over another (1622).[3] The intransitive "to become glassy" is recorded from 1747, in cookery.[3] The noun followed the verb: a window in thieves' slang (1699),[3][13] a coating of ice in America (1752),[3][4][6] a substance used for a glossy coating (1784 in Etymonline and Barnhart, 1789 in the OED, in cookery)[4][5][3] and the vitreous coating of pottery (1807).[3] Johnson (1755) thought glaze was glass "only accidentally varied".[14] He took the potter's sense from French.[14] In Scotland and the north of England the verb also meant to smooth over or polish.[15] Glaze meaning to stare, recorded in Shakespeare (before 1616), is perhaps a blend of gaze and glare;[3][11][6] it is now archaic or dialectal,[6][11] and Wright found it in Devon and Cornwall.[15]

Timeline

  • c. 1369 – to fit windows with glass.[3][5]
  • c. 1400 – to cover pottery with a vitreous coating.[3][4]
  • c. 1440 – to make shine; to polish.[3]
  • 1597 – to cover with a lustrous coating; of the eyes, to cover with a film.[3]
  • 1622 – to cover a painting with a thin transparent colour.[3]
  • 1699 – noun, a window (thieves' slang).[3][13]
  • 1747 – intransitive, to become glassy.[3]
  • 1752 – noun, a coating of ice (American).[3][4][6]
  • 1784 – noun, a substance used to make a glossy coating.[4][5]
  • 1807 – noun, the vitreous coating of pottery.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To fit a window or frame with glass: The new conservatory was glazed last week.[16][6][3]
  2. To coat pottery or ceramics with a glassy substance fired on to make it smooth and waterproof.[16][6][3]
  3. To give food a shiny coating, as of beaten egg, sugar or syrup: She glazed the buns with honey.[16][6]
  4. To cover a painting with a thin layer of transparent colour to change its tone.[16][3]
  5. To make smooth and shiny; to polish.[16][6][3]
  6. To cover with a coating of ice.[6][3]
  7. Of the eyes, often glaze over: to become glassy and lose expression, as from boredom: His eyes glazed over as the lecture went on.[16][3]

Noun

  1. A glassy coating fired on to pottery, or the material used for it.[16][6][3]
  2. A shiny coating on food.[16][6][11]
  3. A thin, smooth coating of ice.[6][3][11]
  4. A thin coat of transparent colour laid over a painting.[16][3]
  5. A smooth, glossy surface.[3][11]
  6. (archaic slang) A window.[11][3][13]

Word family

  • glazer
  • glazily
  • glaziness
  • reglaze
  • salt glaze
  • double glazing

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  10. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  12. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  13. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  14. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  15. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins