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In his poem “After the Winter,” Jamaican-born poet and novelist Claude McKay writes of a “summer isle / Where bamboos spire to shafted grove / And wide-mouthed orchids smile,” declaring that “… we will build a cottage there / Beside an open glade …” It’s a serene, joyous vision offered to the speaker’s beloved, and it may shine a bit of light on the etymological connection between glade and the adjective glad, besides. Glade, which has been part of the English language since the early 1500s, was originally used not just to indicate a clearing in the woods but often specifically to refer to one filled with sunlight (note that McKay specifies that his glade is “open,” as glades can be in full or partial shade). It’s this sunniness that has led some etymologists over the years to suggest a connection with glad, which in Middle English also meant “shining.” To further the intrigue, a now-obsolete sense of glade once referred to a clear or bright space in the sky, or to a flash of light or lightning.
Examples of glade in a Sentence
Lizzy Rosenberg, Outside Online, 19 Jan. 2025
The federal government is no stranger to lawsuits gumming up the works of Everglades restoration projects, but the latest suit has a novel approach: that a decade’s worth of construction on the edge of the glades will infringe on the religious freedom of local Buddhists.
—Lauren Costantino and, Miami Herald, 8 Jan. 2025
Experts can ski steep and challenging terrain while intermediates can take wide turns down glades and bowls.
—Cassidy Randall, Forbes, 7 Jan. 2025
Breckenridge's Peak 6: 143 acres of hike-to terrain above the lift offers cliffs, tight glades and wide-open bowls.
—John Frank, Axios, 23 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for glade 
Dictionary Entries Near glade
Cite this Entry
“Glade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glade. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
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glade
noun
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