Etymologically
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glove

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ɡlʌv/[1]
  • US: /ɡləv/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English glove, earlier glofe,[2][3][4] inherited from Old English glōf,[5][6][7][8] inherited from Proto-Germanic *galōfô.[5] Its only close relative is Old Norse glófi,[6][9][10] which Skeat thought was perhaps borrowed from English.[11] The word is usually explained as a compound of the collective prefix Proto-Germanic *ga- (ge-, English y-) and a noun for the hand or its palm seen in lófi and Gothic 𐌻𐍉𐍆𐌰 (lōfa, “flat of the hand”),[5][6][8][10][2] which survives as Scots loof.[6][12] Etymonline, following Watkins, refers that noun to Proto-Indo-European *lep- (“to be flat; palm, sole, shoulder blade”).[5][13] Ayto notes that words for "glove" in many European languages are built on a word for "hand", as Handschuh, literally "hand-shoe".[14] Old English also had Handscio, but only as the name of a companion of Beowulf.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A covering for the hand: the OED's first example is from Beowulf,[6] which Barnhart dates about 725.[4] Etymonline notes that Old English glōf could also mean the palm of the hand.[5] The Middle English form glove appears before 1200, in Layamon's Brut.[4]

Semantic evolution

In the Middle Ages gloves carried strong social meaning: they were given as gifts and signs of status, and could confer an office or challenge a man to combat.[15] A glove as the token of a pledge or a challenge, as in to throw down the glove, is recorded from before 1400,[6] and in Scotland a glove was a symbol of investiture (1493).[6] The OED records the boxing glove from 1725;[6] Etymonline dates it to 1847.[5] Idioms followed: fit like a glove is found by 1771,[5] hand in glove, earlier hand and glove, dates from the 18th century,[15] to handle without gloves and its opposite with kid gloves from the early 19th century, and to take the gloves off from the 1920s.[15] In Dekker's slang of 1609 a glove was some kind of drinking vessel.[6][16] Etymonline and Barnhart date the verb, to put a glove on, to about 1400;[5][4] the OED's first example is from Shakespeare in 1600,[6] and in sport it has meant to catch or touch a ball with a gloved hand since 1952.[6] Glover is a surname from the mid-13th century.[5]

Timeline

  • Old English – glōf, a covering for the hand, in Beowulf.[6][4]
  • before 1200 – the form glove, in Layamon.[4]
  • before 1400 – a glove as a pledge or challenge.[6]
  • c. 1400 – verb, to cover with a glove.[5][4]
  • 1609 – (slang) a drinking vessel (obsolete).[6]
  • 1725 – a boxing glove.[6]
  • 1771 – fit like a glove.[5]
  • 1952 – verb, (sport) to catch or touch a ball with a gloved hand.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A covering for the hand, usually with a separate part for each finger and the thumb, worn for warmth or protection: He lost a woollen glove on the bus.
  2. A large padded covering for the hand used in a sport, such as a boxing glove or a baseball glove.
  3. hand in glove: working closely together, often in a dishonest way.
  4. fit like a glove: to fit perfectly.
  5. the gloves are off: a fight or argument is now to be fought without restraint.

Verb

  1. To cover the hand with a glove, or to provide with gloves.
  2. (sport) To catch or touch a ball with a gloved hand.

Word family

  • gloveless
  • glovelike
  • gloveman
  • glover
  • kid-glove
  • white-glove
  • baseball glove
  • boxing glove

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  3. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  11. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  12. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  13. ^ Watkins, Calvert (2000), "Indo-European Roots", appendix to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  14. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  15. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  16. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com