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Where does the word "glossary" come from? It comes from Greek glōssa, and was adopted directly into English (1300s).
Read the full story
Where does the word "glossary" come from? It comes from Greek glōssa, and was adopted directly into English (1300s).
Glossary’s story begins in Greek: glōssa meant “tongue, obscure word.” Greek; a 'gloss' explained a difficult word. It reached English by 1300s as glossary. Came via Latin 'glossarium'. Today, glossary means an alphabetical list of terms with definitions.
- Stage 1 · Greek · ancient glōssa "tongue, obscure word", Greek; a 'gloss' explained a difficult word.
- Stage 2 · English · 1300s glossary "list of hard words", came via Latin 'glossarium'.