What does gloss mean?

Definitions for gloss
glɒs, glɔsgloss

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word gloss.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. gloss, rubricnoun

    an explanation or definition of an obscure word in a text

  2. glossary, glossnoun

    an alphabetical list of technical terms in some specialized field of knowledge; usually published as an appendix to a text on that field

  3. polish, gloss, glossiness, burnishnoun

    the property of being smooth and shiny

  4. semblance, gloss, color, colourverb

    an outward or token appearance or form that is deliberately misleading

    "he hoped his claims would have a semblance of authenticity"; "he tried to give his falsehood the gloss of moral sanction"; "the situation soon took on a different color"

  5. glossverb

    give a shine or gloss to, usually by rubbing

  6. gloss, comment, annotateverb

    provide interlinear explanations for words or phrases

    "He annotated on what his teacher had written"

  7. glossverb

    provide an interlinear translation of a word or phrase

  8. color, colour, glossverb

    give a deceptive explanation or excuse for

    "color a lie"

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. GLOSSnoun

    Etymology: γλώσσα; glose, French.

    They never hear sentence, which mentioneth the word or scripture, but forthwith their glosses upon it are the word preached, the scripture explained, or delivered unto us in sermons. Richard Hooker, b. v. s. 22.

    If then all souls, both good and bad, do teach,
    With gen’ral voice, that souls can never die;
    ’Tis not man’s flatt’ring gloss, but nature’s speech,
    Which, like God’s oracles, can never lie. Davies.

    Some mutter at certain passages therein, by putting ill glosses upon the text, and taking with the left hand what I offer with the right. James Howell.

    All this, without a gloss or comment,
    He could unriddle in a moment. Hudibras, p. i. cant. 1.

    In many places he has perverted my meaning by his glosses, and interpreted my words into blasphemy and bawdry, of which they were not guilty. John Dryden, Fables, Preface.

    They give the scandal, and the wise discern;
    Their glosses teach an age too apt to learn. Dryden.

    Explaining the text in short glosses, was Accursius’s method. Thomas Baker, Reflections on Learning.

    Indentures, cov’nants, articles they draw,
    Large as the fields themselves, and larger far
    Than civil codes with all their glosses are. Alexander Pope.

    Poor painters oft with silly poets join,
    To fill the world with strange but vain conceit;
    One brings the stuff, the other stamps the coin,
    Which breeds nought else but glosses of deceit. Philip Sidney, b. ii.

    It is no part of my secret meaning to draw you hereby into hatred, or to set upon the face of this cause any fairer gloss than the naked truth doth afford. Richard Hooker, Preface.

    He seems with forged quaint conceit
    To set a gloss upon his bad intent. William Shakespeare, Henry VI.

    The common gloss
    Of theologians. John Milton.

    His iron coat, all over grown with rust,
    Was underneath enveloped with gold,
    Whose glistering gloss dark’ned with filthy dust. Fai. Queen.

    You are a sectary,
    That’s the plain truth: your painted gloss discovers,
    To men that understand you, words and weakness. William Shakespeare.

    Golden opinions from all sorts of people,
    Which would be worn now in their newest gloss. William Shakespeare.

    The doubt will be whether it will polish so well; for steel glosses are more resplendent than the like plates of brass, and so is the glittering of a blade. Francis Bacon, Phys. Rem.

    Weeds that the wind did toss
    The virgins wore: the youths, woven coats, that cast a faint dim gloss,
    Like that of oil. George Chapman, Iliads, b. xviii.

    It was the colour of devotion, giving a lustre to reverence, and a gloss to humility. Robert South, Sermons.

    Groves, fields, and meadows, are at any season pleasant to look upon; but never so much as in the opening of the Spring, when they are all new and fresh, with their first gloss upon them. Joseph Addison, Spectator, №. 412.

  2. To Glossverb

    No woman shall succeed in Salique land;
    Which Salique land the French unjustly gloss
    To be the realm of France. William Shakespeare, Henry V.

    In parchment then, large as the fields, he draws
    Assurances, big as gloss’d civil laws. John Donne.

    Is this the paradise, in description whereof so much glossing and deceiving eloquence hath been spent? Richard Hooker, Sermons.

    Do I not reason wholly on your conduct?
    You have the art to gloss the foulest cause. Ambrose Philips, Briton.

    But thou, who lately of the common strain
    Wert one of us, if still thou do’st retain
    The same ill habits, the same follies too,
    Gloss’d over only with a saint-like show,
    Then I resume the freedom which I gave,
    Still thou art bound to vice, and still a slave. John Dryden, Pers.

  3. To Glossverb

    Etymology: gloser, Fr. from the noun.

    Thou detain’st Briseis in thy bands,
    By priestly glossing on the gods commands. John Dryden, Fables.

    Her equals first observ’d her growing zeal,
    And laughing gloss’d, that Abra serv’d so well. Matthew Prior.

ChatGPT

  1. gloss

    Gloss generally refers to the luster or shine on a smooth surface. However, its definition can vary across different contexts. In linguistics, for example, gloss could refer to the process of adding explanatory notes or translations in a text. In printing, gloss could refer to a type of finish applied to a photo or printed paper to make it shiny. In painting, gloss could refer to a type of paint that gives a shiny effect when dry.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Glossnoun

    brightness or luster of a body proceeding from a smooth surface; polish; as, the gloss of silk; cloth is calendered to give it a gloss

  2. Glossnoun

    a specious appearance; superficial quality or show

  3. Glossverb

    to give a superficial luster or gloss to; to make smooth and shining; as, to gloss cloth

  4. Glossnoun

    a foreign, archaic, technical, or other uncommon word requiring explanation

  5. Glossnoun

    an interpretation, consisting of one or more words, interlinear or marginal; an explanatory note or comment; a running commentary

  6. Glossnoun

    a false or specious explanation

  7. Glossverb

    to render clear and evident by comments; to illustrate; to explain; to annotate

  8. Glossverb

    to give a specious appearance to; to render specious and plausible; to palliate by specious explanation

  9. Glossverb

    to make comments; to comment; to explain

  10. Glossverb

    to make sly remarks, or insinuations

  11. Etymology: [OE. glose, F. glose, L. glossa a difficult word needing explanation, fr. Gr. tongue, language, word needing explanation. Cf. Gloze, Glossary, Glottis.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Gloss

    glos, n. brightness or lustre, as from a polished surface: external show.—v.t. to give a superficial lustre to: to render plausible: to palliate. [Ice. glossi, brightness, glóa, to glow. See Glass.]

  2. Gloss

    glos, n. a remark to explain a subject: a comment.—v.i. to comment or make explanatory remarks.—adj. Glossā′rial, relating to a glossary: containing explanation.—ns. Gloss′arist, a writer of a glossary; Gloss′ary, a vocabulary of words requiring special explanation: a dictionary; Glossā′tor, Gloss′er, a writer of glosses or comments, a commentator; Gloss′ic, a phonetic alphabet devised by Mr A. J. Ellis (1814-90) for the scientific expression of speech-sounds—to be used concurrently with the Nomic or existing English orthography; Glossī′tis, inflammation of the tongue; Gloss′ocele, swelled tongue; Glossog′rapher.—adj. Glossograph′ical.—n. Glossog′raphy, the writing of glossaries or comments.—adj. Glossolog′ical.—ns. Glossol′ogist; Glossol′ogy, the science of language, comparative philology: the knowledge of the definition of technical terms—also Glottol′ogy; Glossot′omy, dissection of the tongue. [L. glossa, a word requiring explanation—Gr. glōssa, the tongue.]

Suggested Resources

  1. gloss

    Song lyrics by gloss -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by gloss on the Lyrics.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. GLOSS

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Gloss is ranked #23167 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Gloss surname appeared 1,101 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Gloss.

    83.3% or 918 total occurrences were White.
    9.2% or 102 total occurrences were Black.
    4% or 45 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
    1.9% or 21 total occurrences were of two or more races.
    0.7% or 8 total occurrences were Asian.
    0.6% or 7 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.

How to pronounce gloss?

How to say gloss in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of gloss in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of gloss in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of gloss in a Sentence

  1. Desiderius Erasmus:

    Amongst the learned the lawyers claim first place, the most self-satisfied class of people, as they roll their rock of Sisyphus and string together six hundred laws in the same breath, no matter whether relevant or not, piling up opinion on opinion and gloss on gloss to make their profession seem the most difficult of all. Anything which causes trouble has special merit in their eyes.

  2. Melissa Jacobs:

    They just sort of gloss over things to make it seem as if everybody is this wonderful, altruistic person.

  3. Amanda Gorman:

    In my poem, I’m not going to in any way gloss over what we’ve seen over the past few weeks and, dare I say, the past few years. But what I really aspire to do in the poem is to be able to use my words to envision a way in which our country can still come together and can still heal. It’s doing that in a way that is not erasing or neglecting the harsh truths I think America needs to reconcile with.

  4. Carly Fiorina:

    I’ve been very transparent about the fact that I was fired in a boardroom brawl at Hewlett-Packard, it’s not unfair at all to question that. What’s unfair is when people gloss over the facts.

  5. Alex French:

    We feel fortunate that The Atlantic decided to work with us, and we are grateful that the piece has gone through The Atlantic's thoughtful editorial process, which included another rigorous fact-check and robust legal vetting, singer's response to The Atlantic story wrongfully used' homophobia' to deflect from sexual assault allegations and GLAAD urges the media and the industry at large to not gloss over the fact that survivors of sexual assault should be put first.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

gloss#10000#12764#100000

Translations for gloss

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"gloss." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/gloss>.

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