glide

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English gliden,^[2][3][4] inherited from Old English glīdan (“to move smoothly, slip, slide”),^{[5][6][3][7][8]} from Proto-Germanic *glīdaną (“to glide”),^[6][9][10] a West Germanic strong verb cognate with Old Frisian glīda, Old Saxon glīdan, Dutch glijden, Old High German glītan, Middle High German glīten and German gleiten.^{[5][6][11][4][12][8]} It is not found in Gothic or Old Norse; Swedish glida and Danish glide were probably taken from Middle Low German glīden.^[5][4] The OED and Hoad know no cognates outside Germanic,^[5][13] and Barnhart calls the West Germanic verb of unknown origin.^[11] Kroonen tentatively compares Lithuanian glitùs (“slippery”).^[9] Etymonline takes it as probably one of the many Germanic words beginning with gl- with notions of "smooth, shining, joyful", from Proto-Indo-European *ghel- (“to shine”);^[6][3] the OED finds the likeness in sense to the adjective glad, originally "smooth, slippery", remarkable, but thinks an etymological link hardly possible.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To move along smoothly and easily: Old English glīdan is recorded in Beowulf, dated about 725 by Barnhart.^[11] In Andreas it is used of motion through water and through the air;^[5][7] Bosworth–Toller quotes the sun gliding to its setting.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the verb was used of liquids flowing, often of tears or blood (c. 1175), of sliding over a smooth surface or slipping on ice (c. 1290), of the movement of snakes (c. 1315), and of going stealthily or unnoticed (1393, in Langland).^[5] In poetry it also meant simply to go or come, from before 1275 to 1596.^[5][2] Chaucer used it nine times.^[14] The verb stayed strong until the 19th century,^[5] and glided is now usual, though glid persisted into the 20th century and glode is archaic.^[5][6][15] The noun, from the verb, is recorded from the late 16th century: a stream or the smooth stretch of one (1590) and the action of gliding (1596).^[5] The 19th and 20th centuries added specialized senses in music (1835), cricket (1888), dancing (1889), aeronautics (1902) and crystallography (1934).^[5][6] In Northamptonshire, Leicestershire and nearby counties glide meant to slide on ice, or a slide,^[16] while in Lancashire, Cheshire, Shropshire and Suffolk a dialect verb glide meant to squint.^[16] Australian slang used it for "to die" in 1885.^[17]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English glīdan, to move smoothly, in Beowulf.^[11]
• c. 1175 – of a liquid, to flow.^[5]
• before 1275 – in poetry, to go or come (obsolete by 1596).^[5]
• c. 1290 – to slide over a smooth surface; to slip on ice.^[5]
• c. 1315 – of snakes and other reptiles.^[5]
• 1393 – to go stealthily or unnoticed, in Langland.^[5]
• 1590 – noun, a stream; the smooth stretch of a stream.^[5] Merriam-Webster dates the noun to 1584.^[15]
• 1596 – noun, the action of gliding.^[5]
• 1835 – noun, a term in music.^[5][6]
• 1889 – noun, a gliding dance step.^[5][6]
• 1902 – noun, the gliding flight of an aircraft.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To move smoothly, continuously and without effort: The swans glided across the pond.^[18][15][5]
2. To pass gradually or without noticeable change: The summer glided by.^[18][15]
3. To move quietly or stealthily.^[5][15]
4. Of an aircraft, to fly or come in to land without engine power; to fly a glider.^[18][5]

Noun

1. A smooth, gliding movement.^[15][18][5]
2. The flight of a glider or of an aircraft without engine power.^[15][5]
3. A calm, shallow stretch of a stream.^[15][5]
4. (music) A portamento.^[15][5]
5. (phonetics) A transitional sound made as the voice passes from one sound to another; a semivowel.^[15][5]
6. A gliding step in dancing.^[5][6]

Word family

• glidingly
• glider
• off-glide
• on-glide
• hang-glide
• glide path
• glide slope

Related words

• glad
• glede
• glissade

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b 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 The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ 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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
10. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
12. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
13. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
14. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
16. ^ 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)
17. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
18. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins