glês (West Frisian)

Where does "glês" come from?

The West Frisian noun 'glês', meaning 'glass'[1], descends directly from Old Frisian 'gles'[1]. Going back further, it developed from the Proto-Germanic form '*glasą'[1]. This Germanic term is traditionally linked to an s-extension of the Proto-Indo-European root '*gʰel-' or '*ǵʰel-', meaning 'to shine, shimmer, or glow'[2]. Alternatively, a derivation has been proposed from an s-stem of '*glōaną', meaning 'to glow', which likely shares the same ultimate root[2].

Open questions

• The Proto-Germanic form is traditionally derived from an s-extension of an Indo-European root meaning to shine, though an alternative derivation connects it to an s-stem of the verb to glow. [2]

Full etymology tree

• glês (West Frisian), 'glass'
  • inherited gles (Old Frisian)
    • inherited *glasą (Proto-Germanic), 'amber, glass'
      • derived *gʰel- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to call'

Ancestors

• *glasą (Proto-Germanic)

Sources

1. glês (West Frisian) - Wiktionary
2. glasą (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary

Updated August 2026

More words starting with G

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris