glad

Etymology

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 *gʰel- (“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”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡlæd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æd

Adjective

glad (comparative gladder or more glad, superlative gladdest or most glad)

1. Pleased, happy, gratified.

   I'm glad the rain has finally stopped.

   • Bible, Proverbs x.1:

     A wise son maketh a glad father.

   • William Shakespeare (c.1564–1616)

     Glad am I that your highness is so armed.

   • 1909, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], chapter II, in The Squire’s Daughter, London: Methuen, OCLC 12026604; republished New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1919, OCLC 491297620:

     "I was dragged up at the workhouse school till I was twelve. Then I ran away and sold papers in the streets, and anything else that I could pick up a few coppers by—except steal. I never did that. I always made up my mind I'd be a big man some day, and—I'm glad I didn't steal."

2. (obsolete) Having a bright or cheerful appearance; expressing or exciting joy; producing gladness.
   • Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586)

     Her conversation / More glad to me than to a miser money is.

   • John Milton (1608-1674)

     Glad evening and glad morn crowned the fourth day.

Verb

glad (third-person singular simple present glads, present participle gladding, simple past and past participle gladded)

1. (archaic, transitive) To make glad

   Synonyms: cheer up, gladden, exhilarate

   • Dryden

     that which gladded all the warrior train

   • Alexander Pope

     Each drinks the juice that glads the heart of man.

   • 1922, A. E. Housman, Epithalamium, line 3

     God that glads the lover's heart

Alternative forms

• gwlad

Etymology

From Middle Breton gloat (“kingdom, wealth”), from Proto-Brythonic *gwlad, from Proto-Celtic *wlatis (“sovereignty”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wélh₁tis ~ *h₂wl̥h₁téy-, from the root *h₂welh₁-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡlɑːt/

Noun

glad f (plural gladoù)

1. arable land
2. patrimony, estate
3. (archaic) territory, country
4. (archaic) feudal domain

Inflection

Etymology

From Old Norse glaðr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡlad/, [ɡ̊lað]
• Rhymes: -ad

Adjective

glad (neuter glad, plural and definite singular attributive glade, comparative gladere, superlative (predicative) gladest, superlative (attributive) gladeste)

1. happy, glad

References

• “glad” in Den Danske Ordbog

Etymology

From Middle Dutch glat, from Old Dutch *glad, from Proto-Germanic *gladaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɣlɑt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑt

Adjective

glad (comparative gladder, superlative gladst)

1. smooth, polished
2. slippery

Etymology

From Old Norse glaðr

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɽɑː/, IPA^(key): /ɡlɑː/

Adjective

glad (neuter singular glad, definite singular and plural glade, comparative gladere, indefinite superlative gladest, definite superlative gladeste)

1. happy, glad

References

• “glad” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Etymology

From Old Norse glaðr. Akin to English glad.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡlɑː/

Adjective

glad (neuter singular glad, definite singular and plural glade, comparative gladare, indefinite superlative gladast, definite superlative gladaste)

1. happy, glad

References

• “glad” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *gladaz

Adjective

glad

1. glad

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *goldъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡlâːd/

Noun

glȃd f (Cyrillic spelling гла̑д)

1. hunger

Etymology

From Old Swedish glaþer, from Old Norse glaðr, from Proto-Germanic *gladaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰladʰ-, derivation of Proto-Indo-European *gʰel- (“to shine”).

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /ɡlɑːd/

Adjective

glad (comparative gladare, superlative gladast)

1. happy, glad