Meaning

noun an explanation or definition of an obscure word in a text

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

noun the property of being smooth and shiny

originProbably 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…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0