gloria

plural glorias

1. countableuncountableA lightweight fabric used for umbrellas and dresses.
2. countablelifestyleA doxology.

   The glorias, canticles, and some translations of popular hymns are admirably sung; I do not know that I ever heard congregational singing more effective.

   1855, The Colonial Church chronicle, and missionary journal

plural Glorias

1. A female given name from Latin, popular during the first half of the 20th century.

   Miss Flax, the little thin sister, and Miss Gloria, the stout able-bodied sister, lifted up their hands and eyes in horror at the mere hint of a wet nurse.

   1835 October, Jacobus Flax: The Knickerbocker, page 291

   1 more example

   Crampton. […] What's your name? I mean your pet name. They can't very well call you Sophronia. Gloria. Sophronia! My name is Gloria. I am always called by it. Crampton. Your name is Sophronia, girl: you were called after your aunt Sophronia, my sister: she gave you your first Bible with your name written in it. Gloria: Then my mother gave me a new name.

   1898, George Bernard Shaw, You Never Can Tell, act II

2. ChristianityThe Gloria in excelsis Deo, a hymn sung during the liturgy of many churches.

   1 more example

   “What did the priest, and all of you, keep on saying when we first went in?” / “Our Fathers, Hail Maries, and Glorias; couldn’t you hear?” asked Emily, laughing. / “No, I should think not, you rattled on so fast- What are Hail Maries and Glorias?” / “The Gloria you know well enough, my dear, because you say it in your church at the end of every psalm,” replied Miss Horton; “the Hail Mary is a prayer to our Blessed Lady,” and she repeated it.

   1872, F. A., chapter V, in Marion Howard; or Trials and Triumphs, Philadelphia: Peter F. Cunningham, […], page 100