Where does “glean” come from?

Glean comes from Middle English glenen, from Anglo-Norman glener, from Late Latin gleno, from Proto-Celtic glanos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰelh₃- meaning to extract or pull out.

glean (English): To collect left behind after the main harvest or...

Definitions

  1. To collect left behind after the main harvest or...

Ancestry of “glean”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishglenen—
2Anglo-Normanglener—
3Latinglenare—
4Late Latinglenomake a collection
5Proto-Celticglanosclean; clear
6Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰleh₁-to shine, glow

Words derived from “glean”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰleh₁- →Every word from Proto-Celtic glanos →Every word from Late Latin gleno →