A Gloss Is a Note in the Margin
Gloss is a shine, and separately an explanatory note. The second sense gave English glossary and the word gloss itself.
Gloss is a shine on a surface, and separately an explanatory note on a difficult word. The two are different words. The note comes from Greek *glossa*, tongue or language, and medieval scribes wrote glosses between the lines of Latin texts to explain hard words — which is where *glossary* comes from, and where a great deal of our knowledge of Old English vocabulary comes from too. To *gloss over* something is to smooth it, from the shine sense.
- A surface shine. *A high gloss finish.*
- An explanatory note. *A marginal gloss.*
- Glossary — a list of terms. *A glossary of terms.*
- Gloss over — to smooth past. *He glossed over the problem.*
- Greek — *glossa*, tongue. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | gloss | A soft gloss. |
| Verb | gloss | Gloss the term. |
| Adjective | glossy | A glossy magazine. |
| Noun | glossary | A glossary. |
| Greek | glossa | Tongue, language. |
- Paint the door in gloss.Finish.
- The editor added a gloss on the term.Note.
- He glossed over the failure.Idiom.
What glosses gave us
- Glossary — a collected list of glosses
- Interlinear gloss — a translation written between the lines
- Old English vocabulary — much of it survives only in glossed Latin texts
- Glossolalia — speaking in tongues, from the same Greek root
- Polyglot — many-tongued
The note is from Greek *glossa*, tongue or obscure word, through Latin. The shine is a separate word, probably Scandinavian.
Are the two meanings of gloss related?
No. The explanatory note comes from Greek for tongue; the shine is a separate word of probably Scandinavian origin.
Why are medieval glosses important?
Much of our knowledge of early vernacular vocabulary survives only in notes scribes wrote above Latin words.