Online Etymology Dictionary

glean: early 14c., from O.Fr. glener, from L.L. glennare "make a collection," from Gaulish (cf. O.Ir. do-glinn "he collects, gathers," Celt. glan "clean, pure"). Figurative sense was earlier in English than the literal one of "gather grain left by the reapers" (late 14c.).
glebe: 1302, from O.Fr. glebe, from L. gleba "clod, lump," from PIE *glebh- "to roll into a ball" (cf. L. globus "sphere," O.E. clyppan "to embrace"). Earliest Eng. sense is "land forming a clergyman's benefice," on notion of soil of the earth as source of vegetable products.
glee: O.E. gliu "entertainment, mirth, jest," presumably from a P.Gmc. *gliujan but absent in other Gmc. languages except for the rare O.N. gly. In O.E., an entertainer was a gleuman. A poetic word in M.E., obsolete c.1500-c.1700, it somehow found its way back to currency late 18c. Glee club (1814) is from the secondary O.E. sense of "unaccompanied part-song," as a form of musical entertainment.
glen: "narrow valley," 1489, from Scottish, from Gaelic gleann "mountain valley" (cf. Welsh glyn). Common in place names, cf. Glenlivet (1822), a kind of whiskey, named for the place it was first made (lit. "the glen of the Livet," a tributary of the Avon); and Glengarry (1841) a kind of man's cap, of Highland origin.
glib: 1593, possibly shortening of obsolete glibbery "slippery," from Low Ger. glibberig "smooth, slippery," from M.L.G. glibberich, from glibber "jelly."
glide: O.E. glidan "move along smoothly and easily" (class I strong verb, past tense glad, past participle gliden), from W.Gmc. *glidan (cf. O.S. glidan, O.Fris. glida, Ger. gleiten). No known cognates outside Germanic. Glider "motorless airplane," is c.1897.
glimmer: early 14c., frequentative of P.Gmc. *glim-, root of O.E. glæm "brightness" (see gleam). Originally "shine brightly," sense shifted 15c. to "shine faintly."
glimpse: c.1400, "to shine faintly," probably from O.E. *glimsian "shine faintly," from P.Gmc. *glim- (see gleam). If so, the intrusive -p- would be there to ease pronunciation. Sense of "catch a quick view" first recorded 1779.
glint: 1787, from Scottish, apparently an alteration of M.E. glenten "gleam, flash, glisten," from Scand. (cf. Norw. gletta "to look," dial. Swed. glinta "to shine"), from P.Gmc. *glent-, from PIE *ghlei- "to shine, glitter, glow, be warm" (see gleam). Introduced into Eng. by Burns.
glisten: O.E. glisnian, from P.Gmc. root *glis- (cf. O.Fris. glisa "to shine"), from PIE *ghleis-, from base *ghlei- "to shine, glitter, glow, be warm" (see gleam).
glitch: 1962, Amer.Eng., possibly from Yiddish glitsh "a slip," from glitshn "to slip," from Ger. glitschen, and related gleiten "to glide." Perhaps directly from Ger.; it began as technical jargon in the argot of electronic hardware engineers, popularized and given a broader meaning by U.S. space program.
glitter (v.): c.1300, from O.N. glitra "to glitter," from glit "brightness," from P.Gmc. *glit- "shining, bright" (cf. O.E. glitenian "to glitter," O.H.G. glizzan, Ger. glitzern, Goth. glitmunjan), from PIE *ghleid- (cf. Gk. khlidon, khlidos "ornament"), from base *ghlei- "to shine, glitter" (see gleam). Glitter rock is from 1972; glitterati (playing on literati) first attested 1956.
glitzy: 1966, from Yiddish glitz "glitter," from Ger. glitzern "sparkle" (see glitter). Noun form glitz is mid-1970s.
gloaming: O.E. glomung, formed (probably on model of æfning "evening") from glom "twilight," related to glowan "to glow," hence "glow of sunrise or sunset," from P.Gmc. *glo- (see glow). Fell from currency except in Yorkshire dialect, but preserved in Scotland and reintroduced by Burns and other Scottish writers after 1785.
gloat: 1575, "to look at furtively," from O.N. glotta "smile scornfully," or M.H.G. glotzen "to stare, gloat." Sense of "to look at with malicious satisfaction" first recorded 1748.
global warming: by 1983 as the name for overall rising temperatures and attendant consequences as a result of human activity. Originally theoretical, popularized as a reality from 1989.
globalisation: British spelling of globalization (see globe); for suffix, see -ize.
globalization: 1961, from globalize, which is attested at least from 1953 in various senses; the main modern one, with reference to global economic systems, emerged 1959.
globe: 1550s, "sphere," from L. globus "round mass, sphere," related to gleba "clod, soil, land." Sense of "planet earth," or a three-dimensional map of it first attested 1550s. Global village first attested 1960, popularized, if not coined, by Canadian educator Marshall McLuhan (1911-80).
"Postliterate man's electronic media contract the world to a village or tribe where everything happens to everyone at the same time: everyone knows about, and therefore participates in, everything that is happening the minute it happens. Television gives this quality of simultaneity to events in the global village." [Carpenter & McLuhan, "Explorations in Communication," 1960]
glockenspiel: 1825, from Ger., lit. "play of bells," from Glocke "bell" (see clock) + Spiel "a play."
glom: 1907, from glahm "grab, snatch, steal," Amer.Eng. underworld slang, from Scot. glaum (1715), from Gael. glam "to handle awkwardly, grab voraciously, devour." Sense of "look at, watch" (1945) is apparently derived from the same word.
gloom: c.1300 as a verb, "to look sullen or displeased," perhaps from Scandinavian (cf. Norw. dial. glome "to stare somberly"); the noun is 1590s in Scottish, "sullen look," from the verb. Sense of "darkness, obscurity" is first recorded 1629 in Milton's poetry; that of "melancholy" is 1744 (gloomy in this sense is attested from 1580s).
gloomy: 1580s, probably from gloom even though that word is not attested as early as this one is. Shakespeare used it of woods, Marlowe of persons. Gloomy Gus used in a general sense of "sullen person" since 1940s, from a comic strip character of that name first recorded 1904.
glop: 1943, imitative of the sound of something viscous and unappetizing hitting a dinner plate.
gloria: c.1420, from M.L. gloria in "Gloria Patri," hymn praising god (and similar hymns), from L. gloria "glory."
glory: c.1300, "magnificence," from O.Fr. glorie, from L. gloria "great praise or honor," of uncertain origin. Gk. doxa "expectation" (Homer), later "opinion, fame," and ultimately "glory," was used in Biblical writing to translate a Heb. word which had a sense of "brightness, splendor, magnificence, majesty," and this was subsequently translated as L. gloria, which has colored that word's meaning in most European tongues. Wuldor was an O.E. word used in this sense. Glory days was in use by 1980s; glorious is c.1300, from O.Fr. glorieus, from L. gloriosus "full of glory," from gloria. In 14c.-17c. it also could mean "boastful, vainglorious." Glorified in the sense of "transformed into something better" is recorded from 1821.
glory hole: "a drawer or place where things are heaped together in a disorderly manner," 1825, the first element probably a variant of Scot. glaur "to make muddy" (mid-15c.), perhaps from O.N. leir "mud."
gloss (1): "luster," 1538, from Scand. (cf. Icelandic glossi "flame," related to glossa "to flame"), or obsolete Du. gloos "a glowing," from M.H.G. glos.
gloss (2): "word inserted as an explanation," 1548, gloze, from L. glossa "obsolete or foreign word," from Gk. glossa (Ionic), glotta (Attic) "obscure word, language," lit. "tongue." Extended sense of "explain away" is 1638, from idea of a note inserted in the margin of a text to explain a difficult word.
glossary: late 14c., from L. glossarium "collection of glosses" (see gloss (2)), from Gk. glossarion, dim. of glossa "obsolete or foreign word."
glossolalia: "speaking in tongues," 1879, from Gk. glossa "tongue, language" + lalia "talk, prattle, a speaking," from lalein "to speak, prattle," of echoic origin.
glottis: 1578, from Gk. glottis "mouth of the windpipe," from glotta, Attic dial. variant of glossa "tongue." Glottal is first recorded 1846.
Gloucester: English county, O.E. Gleawceaster, from L. Coloniae Glev (2c.), from Glevo, a Celtic name meaning "bright place" (perhaps influenced by O.E. gleaw "wise, prudent") + O.E. ceaster "Roman town."
glove: O.E. glof "covering for the hand," also "palm of the hand," from P.Gmc. *galofo (cf. O.N. glofi), probably from *ga- collective prefix + *lofi "hand" (cf. O.N. lofi, M.E. love, Goth. lofa "flat of the hand"). Ger. Handschuh, the usual word for "glove," lit. "hand-shoe" (O.H.G. hantscuoh; also Dan., Swed. hantsche) is represented by O.E. Handscio, but this is only attested as a proper name. To fit like a glove is first recorded 1771.
glow: O.E. glowan "to shine as if red-hot," from P.Gmc. base *glo- (cf. O.S. gloian, O.N. gloa, O.H.G. gluoen, Ger. glühen "to glow"), from PIE *ghlo-. First record of glow-worm is from c.1320.
glower: 1500, "to stare with wide eyes," from a Scandinavian source (cf. Norw. dial. glora "to glow"), from P.Gmc. base *glo-, root of O.E. glowan "to glow," which infl. the spelling. Meaning "to look angrily, scowl" is first recorded 1775.
glucose: 1840, from Fr. glucose (1838), from Gk. gleukos "must, sweet wine," related to glykys "sweet," from *glku-, dissimilated in Gk. from PIE *dlk-u- "sweet" (cf. L. dulcis).
glue: early 14c., from O.Fr. glu, from L.L. glus (gen. glutis) "glue," from L. gluten "glue," from PIE *gleit- "to glue, paste" (cf. Lith. glitus "sticky," glitas "mucus;" O.E. cliða "plaster").
glug: 1768, imitative of the sound of swallowing a drink, etc.
glum: 1540s, from M.E. gloumen (v.) "become dark" (c.1300), later gloumben "look gloomy or sullen" (late 14c.); see gloom.
glut (v.): early 14c., "to swallow too much, to feed to repletion," probably from O.Fr. gloter "to swallow, gulp down," from L. gluttire "swallow, gulp down," from PIE base *glu- "to swallow" (cf. Rus. glot "draught, gulp"). The noun (1530s), from the verb, originally meant "a gulp;" meaning "condition of being full or sated" is 1570s; mercantile sense is first recorded 1590s.
gluten: 1639, "any sticky substance," from L. gluten (gen. glutinis) "glue." Used 16c.-19c. for the part of animal tissue now called fibrin; used since 1803 of the nitrogenous part of the flour of wheat or other grain; hence glutamic acid (1871), a common amino acid, and its salt, glutamate (1876). Glutinous "of the nature of glue" is c.1400 (implied in glutinosity), from L. glutinosus, from gluten.
gluteus: "buttocks muscle," 1681, from Mod.L. glutæus, from Gk. gloutos "rump."
glutton: early 13c., from O.Fr. gluton, from L. gluttonem, acc. of glutto "overeater," formed from gluttire "to swallow," from gula "throat," from PIE *gel-.
glycerin: 1838, from Fr. glycérine, coined by Fr. chemist Michel-Eugène Chevreul (1786-1889), from Gk. glykeros "sweet." So called for its taste.
glyph: 1727, from Fr. glyphe (1701), from Gk. glyphe "a carving," from glyphein "to hollow out, engrave, carve" (cognate with L. glubere "to peel, shell," and O.E. cleofan "to cleave").
gnarl: "contort, twist," 1814, a back-formation from gnarled.
gnarled: the source of the whole group of words, including gnarl (v.), gnarl (n.), gnarly, is Shakespeare's use of gnarled in 1603:
"Thy sharpe and sulpherous bolt Splits the vn-wedgable and gnarled Oke." ["Measure for Measure," II.ii.116]
OED calls it a variant of knurled, from M.E. knar "knot in wood" (late 14c.), originally "a rock, a stone;" of uncertain origin. "(Gnarled) occurs in one passage of Shakes. (for which the sole authority is the folio of 1623), whence it came into general use in the nineteenth century" [OED].
gnarly: 1829, from gnarl (see gnarled) + -y (2). Picked up 1970s as surfer slang to describe a dangerous wave; it had spread in teen slang by 1980s, where it meant both "excellent" and "disgusting."
gnash: 1496, variant of M.E. gnasten "to gnash the teeth" (c.1300), perhaps from O.N. gnastan "a gnashing," of unknown origin, probably imitative.