gloss
Plural: glosses
Noun
- an explanation or definition of an obscure word in a text
- an alphabetical list of technical terms in some specialized field of knowledge; usually published as an appendix to a text on that field
- the property of being smooth and shiny
- an outward or token appearance or form that is deliberately misleading
- "he tried to give his falsehood the gloss of moral sanction"
- A surface shine or luster.
- A superficially or deceptively attractive appearance.
- A brief explanatory note or translation of a foreign, archaic, technical, difficult, complex, or uncommon expression, inserted after the original, in the margin of a document, or between lines of a text.
- Synonym of glossary, a collection of such notes.
- An expression requiring such explanatory treatment.
- An extensive commentary on some text.
- An interpretation by a court of a specific point within a statute or case law.
- A definition or explanation of a word sense.
Verb
Verb Forms: glossed, glossing, glosses
- To make something smooth and shiny; to apply a polished finish.
- give a shine or gloss to, usually by rubbing
- provide interlinear explanations for words or phrases
- provide an interlinear translation of a word or phrase
- give a deceptive explanation or excuse for
- To give a gloss or sheen to.
- To make (something) attractive by deception
- To become shiny.
- Used in a phrasal verb: gloss over (“to cover up a mistake or crime, to treat something with less care than it deserves”).
- To add a gloss to (a text).
Examples
- He would gloss over his mistakes by immediately pointing out his opponent’s errors.
Origin / Etymology
Probably from a North Germanic language, compare Icelandic glossi (“spark, flame”), glossa (“to flame”); or perhaps from dialectal Dutch gloos (“a glow, flare”), related to West Frisian gloeze (“a glow”), Middle Low German glȫsen (“to smoulder, glow”), German glosen (“to smoulder”); ultimately from Proto-Germanic *glus- (“to glow, shine”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰel- (“to flourish; be green or yellow”). More at glow.
Synonyms
annotate, burnish, color, colour, comment, glossary, glossiness, polish, rubric, semblance, annotation, brilliance, commentary, discourse, discussion, façade, front, gleam, gloze, luster, mark up, sheen, shine, veneer
Scrabble Score: 6
gloss: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordgloss: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
gloss: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary