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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
Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 10 Mar. 2026
Mabel befriends many of the animals that fled the glade and eventually inspires them to rise up against Jon Hamm’s Mayor Jerry, who wants to build a highway through the forest.
—The Week Us, TheWeek, 9 Mar. 2026
When Mayor Jerry moves forward with the construction of a beltway that will destroy the glade where Mabel learned to calm her nervous system and love nature with her wise grandmother (Karen Huie), this riot grrl skates into action.
—Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 5 Mar. 2026
That’s quite a leap of faith, given that Mayor Jerry is willing to blow up the beavers’ dam — the ecological fulcrum of the glade — and has installed tall metal trees with speakers that emit an intolerable noise only animals can hear.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 2 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for glade
Cite this Entry
“Glade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glade. Accessed 16 Mar. 2026.
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glade
noun
