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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 Price, Travel + Leisure, 17 Nov. 2025
The terrain offers a little of everything—long groomers, steep, off-piste glades, and even 20km of Nordic skiing if that’s more your speed.
—Francesca Krempa, StyleCaster, 17 Nov. 2025
The mountain also offers a wide variety of glades, giving skiers a natural and playful ride through the forest.
—Outside, 4 Nov. 2025
The Deep Temerity area, serviced by a dedicated chairlift, holds a network of vertigo-inducing steeps, glades, and narrow chutes.
—Charles Curkin, Vogue, 27 Oct. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Glade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glade. Accessed 26 Nov. 2025.
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glade
noun
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