Etymology

gloat

G2L1O1A1T1

Today it means: To exhibit a conspicuous (sometimes malevolent) pleasure or sense of self-satisfaction, often at an adversary's misfortune. Full definition →

Middle English *gloten ← Old Norse glotta ← Old English *glotian
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*gʰel-“to shine”
  2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*glutōną“to stare”
  3. Old English · inherited from*glotian
  4. Old Norse · derived fromglotta“to grin, smile scornfully”
  5. Middle English · inherited from*gloten
  6. English todaygloat

From Middle English *gloten, glouten, from Old Norse glotta (“to grin, smile scornfully”) or Old English *glotian, both from Proto-Germanic *glutōną (“to stare”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰel- (“to shine”), related to dialectal Swedish glotta, glutta (“to peep”), Middle High German glutzen, glotzen (“to stare”), Modern German glotzen (“to gawk, goggle”).

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*gʰel- all →

galegillgeldyelpgalpyelt

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.