glad

English Online Dictionary. What means glad‎? What does glad mean?

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡlæd/
• (New York City, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Baltimore) IPA^(key): /ˈɡlɛəd/
• Rhymes: -æd
• Homophone: GLAAD

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”), Russian гла́дкий (gládkij, “smooth”). Doublet of glatt.

Adjective

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

1. Pleased; happy; gratified.
2. (obsolete) Having a bright or cheerful appearance; expressing or exciting joy; producing gladness.

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

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

Translations

Etymology 2

Abbreviation of gladiolus

Noun

glad (plural glads)

1. (informal) A gladiolus (plant).

Anagrams

• GDAL

Breton

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

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse glaðr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡlað/, [ˈɡ̊læð], [ˈklæð̠˕ˠ]
• 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

Dutch

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɣlɑt/
• Hyphenation: glad
• Rhymes: -ɑt

Adjective

glad (comparative gladder, superlative gladst)

1. smooth, polished
2. slippery

Declension

Derived terms

Descendants

• Berbice Creole Dutch: glati
• Negerhollands: glat
• → Aukan: gaata
• → Papiamentu: glad (dated)

Adverb

glad

1. completely, entirely (mostly along with verbs and adjective with a negative meaning)

Usage notes

The usage as an adverb is highly restricted to verbs such as vergeten (“to forget”) and bederven (“to spoil, to rot”) and adjectives such as mis (“wrong, incorrect”) and verkeerd (“wrong, incorrect”).

Middle English

Alternative forms

• glade, gladde, glaid, gled

Etymology

From Old English glæd, from Proto-West Germanic *glad, from Proto-Germanic *gladaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡlad/, /ɡlaːd/

Adjective

glad

1. joyful, merry, happy

Descendants

• English: glad
• Scots: gled, glaid
• Yola: glaude

References

• “glā̆d, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse glaðr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɽɑː/, /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.

Norwegian Nynorsk

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.

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡlɑːd/

Verb

glād

1. first/third-person singular preterite indicative of glīdan

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *gladaz.

Adjective

glad

1. glad

Declension

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *goldъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡlâːd/

Noun

glȃd f (Cyrillic spelling гла̑д)

1. hunger

   (T)ko radi, ne boji se gladi. ― Who works, fears hunger not.

Declension

Further reading

• “glad”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

Slovene

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *gȏldъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡláːt/

Noun

glȃd m inan

1. hunger

   Synonym: lakota

Further reading

• “glad”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
• “glad”, in Termania, Amebis
• See also the general references

Swedish

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

• IPA^(key): /ɡlɑː(d)/

Adjective

glad (comparative gladare, superlative gladast)

1. happy, glad (feeling or causing happiness)

   Antonym: ledsen

2. (somewhat colloquial, with i (“in”)) fond of

   Near-synonym: svår på

Declension

Derived terms

• glad i hatten (“drunk”)
• glad i hågen
• gladlynt

Related terms

• glädja
• glädje

References

• glad in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker

Anagrams

• lagd