Etymology

glacier

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Today it means: A large body of ice which flows under its own mass, usually downhill. Full definition →

French glacier ← Franco-Provençal gllaciér ← Vulgar Latin *glaciārium
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromglaciēs“ice”
  2. Vulgar Latin · derived from*glaciārium
  3. Franco-Provençal · derived fromgllaciér
  4. French · borrowed fromglacier
  5. English todayglacier

Borrowed from French glacier, from Franco-Provençal gllaciér, from Vulgar Latin *glaciārium, a derivative of Latin glaciēs (“ice”), of uncertain origin. First attested in English in 1744 per the OED.

Words from the same roots

Latinglaciēs all →

glanceglaciologyglacifyglacious

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.