gloss
/ɡlɒs/
noun
Origin
Ancient Greek
glōssa — tongue, language, word requiring explanation
Overview
Meaning Now
- A surface shine or luster, especially on a smooth or polished object.
- A brief explanation or translation of a difficult or technical word, often written in the margin or between lines of a text.
- A deceptively attractive outward appearance.
Language path
Ancient Greek → Latin → Middle French → English
Earliest form
glose
Earliest period
14th century
Journey
The word has a double history. One sense relates to the academic practice of adding 'glosses' to manuscripts to explain difficult Latin terms. The other sense, referring to shine, likely arose from a separate Germanic source related to 'glow', which merged with the Greek-derived word due to phonetic similarity.
Evolution
- Ancient Greek
glōssa
“tongue, obsolete or rare word”
Original term for a word requiring interpretation.
- Late Latin
glossa
“an explanatory comment”
- Middle English
glose
“a comment or interpretation”
- 16th century
gloss
“external luster or shine”
Possibly conflated with Middle Low German 'glos' (glowing, flame).
Connections
Word parts
gloss
root
tongue or luster
Related across languages
Greek
glōssa
tongue
French
glose
commentary
Explore next
Related to gloss
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.