Standard Lemma guide

glede

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ɡliːd/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -iːd

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of several birds of prey, especially a kite, Milvus milvus.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A live coal; an ember.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • 1937, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit [Chapter 14 - Fire and Water], His last throes splintered it to sparks and gledes.
  • 1955, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring [Book 2, Chapter 2 - The Council of Elrond], It was hot when I first took it, hot as a glede, and my hand was scorched, so that I doubt if ever again I shall be free of the pain of it.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English glede, from Old English glida, from Proto-West Germanic *glidā, from Proto-Germanic *glidǭ; akin to Icelandic gleða, Swedish glada. Compare glide.

From Middle English gleede, glede, from Old English glēd, glēde (“glowing coal, ember, fire, flame, instrument of torture”), from Proto-West Germanic *glōdi, from Proto-Germanic *glōdiz (“incandescence, glowing ember, burning ash”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵhelh3- (“to shine”). Cognate with Scots gleed (“burning coal, ember”), Saterland Frisian Gloud (“blaze, fire”), Dutch gloed (“glowing heat”), German Glut (“glowing heat, embers”), Swedish glöd (“embers”), Scots glude (“glow from a fire”). More at glow.

Across languages

Translations

1 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: червена каня (červena kanja) — Milvus milvus