{"id":6864,"date":"2025-05-09T22:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T22:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/?p=6864"},"modified":"2025-05-10T02:05:22","modified_gmt":"2025-05-10T02:05:22","slug":"word-of-the-day-gloss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/2025\/05\/09\/word-of-the-day-gloss\/","title":{"rendered":"Word of the Day: Gloss"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today\u2019s word of the day, courtesy of Merriam-Webster, is gloss<\/em>. The dictionary gives a definition of the verb: \u201cTo gloss a word or phrase is to provide its meaning, or in other words, to explain or define it\u201d (https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/word-of-the-day<\/a>). But under that, M-W explains, \u201cThe noun gloss<\/em><\/a>, it follows, refers to (among other things) a brief explanation of a word or expression. And a glossary of course is a collection of textual glosses, or of specialized terms, with their meanings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there are other definitions for the word gloss<\/em> as well, and the differences, as with so many polysemous words in English, relate to the word\u2019s etymology. The first definition on the etymology page is \u201c\u2019glistening smoothness, luster,”\u2019 1530s, probably from Scandinavian (compare Icelandic glossi<\/em> \u2018a spark, a flame,\u2019 related to glossa<\/em> \u2018to flame\u2019), or obsolete Dutch gloos<\/em> \u2018a glowing,\u2019 from Middle High German glos<\/em>; probably ultimately from the same source as English glow<\/a> (v.). Superficial lustrous smoothness due to the nature of the material (unlike polish<\/em>, which is artificial)\u201d (https:\/\/www.etymonline.com\/search?q=gloss<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second entry for gloss is the noun version of the definition used by M-W: \u201c\u2019word inserted as an explanation, translation, or definition,\u2019 c. 1300, glose<\/em> (modern form from 1540s; earlier also gloze<\/em>), from Late Latin glossa<\/em> \u2018obsolete or foreign word,\u2019 one that requires explanation; later extended to the explanation itself, from Greek gl\u014dssa<\/em> (Ionic), gl\u014dtta<\/em> (Attic) \u2018language, a tongue; word of mouth, hearsay,\u2019 also \u2018obscure or foreign word, language,\u2019 also \u2018mouthpiece,\u2019 literally \u2018the tongue\u2019 (as the organ of speech), from PIE *glogh-<\/em> \u2018thorn, point, that which is projected\u2019 (source also of Old Church Slavonic glogu<\/em> \u2018thorn,\u2019 Greek glokhis<\/em> \u2018barb of an arrow\u2019).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGlosses were common in the Middle Ages, usually rendering Hebrew, Greek, or Latin words into vernacular Germanic, Celtic, or Romanic. Originally written between the lines, later in the margins. By early 14c. in a bad sense, \u2018deceitful explanation, commentary that disguises or shifts meaning.\u2019 This sense probably has been colored by gloss<\/em><\/a> (n.1).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The verb form of gloss enters the language \u201cc. 1300, glosen<\/em> \u2018use fair words; speak smoothly, cajole, flatter;\u2019 late 14c. as \u2018comment on (a text), insert a word as an explanation, interpret,\u2019 from Medieval Latin glossare<\/em> and Old French gloser<\/em>, from Late Latin glossa<\/em> (see gloss<\/em><\/a> (n.2)). Modern spelling from 16c.; formerly also gloze<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So one gloss comes from German, and the other gloss comes from Latin, though there may be an influence of one upon the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this date in 1386, England\u2019s King Richard III and Portugal\u2019s King John I of Portugal ratified an alliance that is now the longest current treaty of its kind. It is still in effect today, 639 years later. And it was actually agreed upon 13 years earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The alliance was born of pragmatism. In 1369, France cemented an alliance with the Kingdom of Castille (https:\/\/history.blog.gov.uk\/2016\/05\/09\/historys-unparalleled-alliance-the-anglo-portuguese-treaty-of-windsor-9th-may-1386\/<\/a>). Castille was the kingdom the comprised the center of the northern half of the Iberian Peninsula, the country that would later combine with Aragon, and eventually take over the entire Iberian Peninsula except for the western-most part, which is still Portugal. This alliance threatened both Portugal and England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Castille tried to take over the entire peninsula frequently during the Middle Ages, and that meant taking control of Portugal. There was the Portuguese-Castillian War of 1250-1253 and the Fernandine Wars, which took place 1369\u201370, 1372\u201373, and 1381\u201382, although the latter were instigated more by Ferdinand I of Portugal than by Castille. Still, Castille was a constant threat to Portugal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

France and England were at odds, too. The struggle between the French and the English in a sense dated from 1066, when the Norman French conquered England. The English kings owned large parts of France at various times in the Middle Ages, which led to an unusual situation given the feudal nature of both countries. These English kings were, in a sense, vassals of the French kings. There were 10 Anglo-French Wars between 1109 and 1243. There were four more between 1294 and 1500, one of which was the Hundred Years\u2019 War (1337-1453); that war is sometimes divided into three smaller wars, one of which, the Caroline War, lasted from 1369 to 1389, covering the time period of the alliance we\u2019re talking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The alliance was not merely military but also a trade alliance. However, it did not prevent the British and the Portuguese from being rivals in the colonization of much of Africa and the Far East. You can learn more about the alliance, such as why Portugal\u2019s neutrality during WWII was actually a benefit to England and the Allies, here: https:\/\/britishonlinearchives.com\/posts\/category\/notable-days\/628\/650-years-the-anglo-portuguese-alliance-between-england-and-portugal<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s odd that we never studied the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance in school. Maybe that is because the wars fought by Portugal were never all that important in history, though they were undoubtedly important to the mothers and children of Portuguese and English soldiers who died in those wars, not to mention those on the other side. But perhaps the very alliance between the two nations reduced the impact of such wars; I hope that explains the omittance from history books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also never studied the historic marriage between King John I of Portugal and Philippa of Lancaster on Valentine\u2019s Day in 1387, the year after the treaty was ratified. Philippa, the oldest daughter of John of Gaunt, First Duke of Lancaster (well known for a famous speech about England in Shakespeare\u2019s The Tragedy of Richard II), was the Queen of Portugal from 1387 until 1415 and bore several children, who came to be known as the Illustrious Generation in Portugal (https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Philippa_of_Lancaster<\/a>). It was, apparently, one instance when a political marriage worked out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s image is a painting of the marriage of John I and Philippa from https:\/\/royal-confessions.tumblr.com\/post\/728813569585627137\/queen-philippa-of-lancaster-and-king-john-i-love<\/a>. Perhaps their love story needs an HBO miniseries to fully gloss it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s word of the day, courtesy of Merriam-Webster, is gloss. The dictionary gives a definition of the verb: \u201cTo gloss a word or phrase is to provide its meaning, or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[738,395,284,739],"class_list":["post-6864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-word-of-the-day","tag-alliance","tag-etymology","tag-linguistics","tag-marriage","clearfix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6864"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6864\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6866,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6864\/revisions\/6866"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}