Glass

How to spell glass

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce glass

What does glass mean?

1. nounA hard, transparent material made by melting sand, used for windows and containers.
2. nounA container for drinking, typically made from the transparent material.

Glass in a sentence

• The storm shattered every pane of glass in the greenhouse.

• She poured cold water into a tall glass before dinner.

• Recycling bins should keep glass separate from paper.

• He raised his glass to toast the happy couple.

Where does glass come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Glass comes straight from the Old English glæs, the name for the hard, transparent material made by fusing sand at high heat. That word belongs to a wider Germanic family, sharing an ancestor with the Dutch glas and the German Glas, and it traces back to a root meaning 'to shine' or 'to glow', the same idea that gives us 'glow' and 'glare'. The connection makes sense, because early glass was prized for its bright, shining surface. From the basic material the word naturally spread to mean a drinking vessel made of glass, and later a mirror or a lens, including the spectacles people still call 'glasses'. Because it has been an everyday English word for well over a thousand years, the spelling has stayed remarkably simple and stable.

How the word is built

• glass (from Old English glæs: a clear, glossy substance); single root word, no affixes