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gloss

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Etymology and origin of the English word gloss

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ɡlɒs/[1]
  • US: /ɡlɔs/[1]

gloss1 explanatory note

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1300 South English Legendary
Borrowed from
Old French glose via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek γλῶσσα
Etymology tree of gloss1
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek γλῶσσα
English gloss

Etymology

The explanatory note is inherited from Middle English glose,[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French glose or Medieval Latin glōsa,[2][5][6][7] from Latin glōssa (“an old or foreign word needing explanation”),[5][3][8][9] from Ancient Greek γλῶσσα (glôssa, “tongue, language; an obscure word”),[3][8][7][9] Attic γλῶττα (glôtta).[8][3][9] In the 16th century the Middle English glose, also gloze, was refashioned as gloss after the Latin and Greek spelling;[10][11][12][7][13] Barnhart sees it as a fresh borrowing straight from Latin.[9] Klein relates the Greek noun to γλωχίς (glōkhís, “projecting point”),[8] and Etymonline traces it to Proto-Indo-European *glogh- (“thorn, point”).[3] The Anglo-Norman noun is recorded from the mid-12th century for a comment or interpretation, especially of the Bible.[14]

Earliest recorded meaning

An explanatory comment on a word or text: about 1300, as glose, in the South English Legendary.[2][3] The spelling gloss appears in 1548, in Udall's translation of Erasmus.[10][9]

Semantic evolution

Glosses were common in the Middle Ages, usually putting Hebrew, Greek or Latin words into a vernacular, first between the lines and later in the margins.[3] By the early 14th century the word could also mean a deceitful explanation that twists the meaning, perhaps coloured by the lustre word (gloss2),[3][15] and the Middle English verb glosen meant to flatter or speak smoothly.[3][15] In the 16th century the word came to mean a whole glossary or interlinear translation (1579, in Spenser's Shepheardes Calender),[10][9] and a poem that expands a stanza of another poem (1598).[10] The verb, to add glosses or comment on a text, is recorded from 1579,[10][9] and since 1638 it has also meant to explain away.[10][9] The older spelling survives as gloze.[10][11]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – glose, an explanatory comment on a text.[2][3]
  • 1548 – the spelling gloss.[10][9]
  • 1579 – a glossary or interlinear translation; verb, to make glosses.[10]
  • 1598 – a poem that develops a stanza of another poem.[10]
  • 1603 – transitive verb, to comment on or explain.[10]
  • 1638 – to explain away.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A brief explanation or translation of a difficult word or phrase, written in the margin or between the lines of a text: a Latin psalter with Old English glosses.[5][10]
  2. A longer commentary or interpretation, sometimes one that deliberately misrepresents the text.[5][10]
  3. A glossary or an interlinear translation.[10]
  4. A poem that develops, stanza by stanza, the lines of another poem.[10]

Verb

  1. To provide glosses for; to explain or annotate: The editor glossed every dialect word.[5][10]
  2. To make glosses, or to comment, often unfavourably.[5][10][11]

gloss2 lustre, shine

Confidence
Disputed
First attested
1538 T. Elyot, Dictionary

Etymology

The lustre is of uncertain origin.[11][12][13][7] Many dictionaries think it probably Scandinavian,[3][5][6][16] comparing Icelandic glossi (“spark, flame”) and glossa (“to flame”),[3][9][5][6] and Swedish dialect glossa (“to glow”);[7][10] others point to obsolete Dutch gloos (“a glowing”), which matches Middle High German glos and glosen (“to glow”) and may be the source instead.[10][9][3][15] The OED calls it perhaps a Germanic word,[10] and Etymonline thinks it ultimately from the same source as glow;[3] the American Heritage Dictionary refers it to Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰel-.[6] Weekley noted that glass was used interchangeably with it in the 16th and 17th centuries.[15][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

A superficial lustre or shine: 1538, in Elyot's Dictionary.[10][9] Merriam-Webster dates the sense to the 15th century.[5]

Semantic evolution

A figurative sense, a deceptive outward appearance or plausible pretext, appears by 1548, and the OED notes it was sometimes confused with the explanatory word.[10] The verb is recorded from 1658 for giving something a fair appearance or veiling it in specious language, often gloss over,[10][5] and since 1762 for making a surface bright and shiny.[10] Etymonline holds that gloss over comes mostly from the explanatory verb "explain away", influenced by this one.[3][11] In Scotland and Northumberland a gloss was a clear, glowing fire without smoke or flame.[17][10]

Timeline

  • 1538 – superficial lustre.[10][9]
  • 1548 – a deceptive appearance, a plausible pretext.[10]
  • 1658 – verb, to give a fair appearance to, to veil.[10]
  • 1762 – to make bright and glossy; noun, a bright glow of a fire.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A smooth, shining surface; lustre or sheen: the gloss of a well-groomed horse.[16][5][10]
  2. An attractive outward appearance that hides something less pleasant.[16][5][10]
  3. Gloss paint, or a cosmetic that gives a faint shine, as in lip gloss.[16]

Verb

  1. To give a shine to; to make glossy.[5][16][10]
  2. To make something seem acceptable, or to pass over it quickly; usually gloss over: The report glossed over the delays.[5][10]

Word family

  • glow
  • glossary
  • glossator
  • glossology
  • gloze
  • glottis
  • epiglottis
  • polyglot
  • isogloss

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Mayhew, A. L.; Skeat, Walter W. (1888), A Concise Dictionary of Middle English from A.D. 1150 to 1580, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ a b c d e Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  8. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  10. ^ 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 34 35 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  12. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  13. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  14. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  15. ^ a b c d Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  16. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  17. ^ 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)

Derived terms

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Gloss.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/gloss. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

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