Etymologically
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glow

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 14:57. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ɡləʊ/, US /ɡloʊ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English glowen, inherited from Old English glōwan (“to shine as if red-hot”),[2][3][4][5][6] cognate with Old Saxon glōian, Old High German gluoen (modern German glühen), Dutch gloeien and Old Norse glóa,[2][3][4][6] from a Germanic base related to glare and gloaming,[2] from Proto-Indo-European *ghel- (“to shine”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To be heated to incandescence, to shine without flame: about 1000, in Ælfric.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

It was used figuratively, of strong feeling, from the late 14th century.[3] The noun, glowing heat, is from about 1450,[2][3] brightness and warmth of colour from 1600,[7][5] ardour from 1748,[7] and a flush of radiant feeling from 1793.[7][3] The glow-worm is probably from about 1350.[2] Danish and some Swedish dialects also have the sense to stare, found in Middle English as well,[3] and in south-western English dialect to glow was to stare or glower.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 1000 – to glow.[2][7]
  • probably c. 1350 – glow-worm.[2]
  • late 14th century – figurative glow.[3]
  • c. 1450 – a glow (noun).[2]
  • 1600 – warmth of colour.[7]
  • 1793 – a flush of feeling.[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To give out a steady light without flame, as from heat.
  2. To have a bright, warm colour; to flush or blush.
  3. To be radiant or exuberant, as with health or emotion.

Noun

  1. The light of something heated until it shines; incandescence.
  2. Brilliance or warmth of colour, or a healthy redness of the face.
  3. A feeling of warmth or well-being.

Word family

  • glowingly
  • aglow
  • glower
  • glowing
  • outglow
  • afterglow
  • airglow
  • counterglow

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ 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)