Etymograph

English

glad

Glad comes from Middle English glad ‘joyful, merry, happy’, from Old English glæd ‘shining’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰladʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰladʰ-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gladaz1‘shiny’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150glæd1‘shining’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500glad1‘joyful’
  5. Englishearliest quotation a. 1587glad1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English glad
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., (please specify the folio): “Her conversation / More glad to me than to…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰladʰ-Wiktionary, English gladreconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gladazWiktionary, English glad‘shiny’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150glædWiktionary, English glad‘shining’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gladWiktionary, English glad‘joyful’
  5. Englishearliest quotation a. 1587gladWiktionary, English glad. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., (please specify the folio): “Her conversation / More glad to me than to…”

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Today it means

adj Pleased; happy; gratified.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “glad”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʰladʰ- / glad