glen

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɡlɛn/, /ɡlɪn/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English glen (Scots), borrowed from Scottish Gaelic gleann, earlier glenn,^[2][3][4][5] cognate with Old Irish glenn and Welsh glyn (“valley”),^[2][3][4] of unknown origin.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A narrow mountain valley: 1489, in Scots, in Barnhart and the OED, the late 15th century in Etymonline;^[2][6][3] earlier in a place name, Glendew.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It was at first a Scottish word;^[4][2] Spenser took it up in the forms glenne and glinne, and the form glen came into general English use in the mid-18th century.^[4] It is common in Scottish place names, giving whisky names like Glenlivet (1822) and the Glengarry cap (1841).^[3] Glen check fabrics, as the Glenurquhart check, are from 1923.^[6]

Timeline

• 1489 – glen (Scots).^[2][6]
• mid-18th century – in general English use.^[4]
• 1822 – Glenlivet.^[3]
• 1923 – glen check.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A narrow, deep mountain valley, especially in Scotland or Ireland.

Word family

• glenlike

Related words

• dale
• valley
• strath

Usage notes

A different glen, a daffodil, is a Scots word from 1864;^[6] in Kilmarnock, Glen-Saturday was the day on which people were allowed to gather daffodils in the Glen of Craufurdland.^[7]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ 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)