glad

Etymology 1

From Middle English glad, gled, from Old English glæd (“shining; bright; cheerful; glad”), from Proto-Germanic *gladaz (“shiny; gleaming; radiant; happy; glossy; smooth; flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰladʰ-, from *ǵʰelh₂- (“to shine”). Cognate with Scots gled, glaid (“shining; bright; glad”), Saterland Frisian glääd (“smooth; sleek”), West Frisian glêd (“smooth”), Dutch glad (“smooth; sleek; slippery”), German glatt (“smooth; sleek; slippery”), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish glad (“glad; happy; cheerful”), Icelandic glaður (“glad; joyful; cheery”), Latin glaber (“smooth; hairless; bald”). Doublet of glatt.

adj

  1. Pleased, happy, gratified.
    I'm glad the rain has finally stopped.
  2. (obsolete) Having a bright or cheerful appearance; expressing or exciting joy; producing gladness.

verb

  1. (archaic, transitive) To make glad.
    God that glads the lover's heart 1922, A. E. Housman, Epithalamium, line 3

Etymology 2

noun

  1. (informal) A gladiolus (plant).
    Glads are widely grown as cut flowers both in the United States and abroad. 2008, Lynn Byczynski, The Flower Farmer, page 217

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