Glacial
/ˈɡleɪ.ʃəl/noun
Relating to glaciers or ice; extremely cold, slow, or unfriendly in manner.
Did you know?The Latin ancestor of glacial, glacies, meant “ice,” and it gave English a whole icy family of words, while its deeper Indo-European relatives are linked to ideas of brightness and glare.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*gʰel-
“To shine, be bright, or yellow-green; a root associated with gleam and color”
Latin
Latin
glaciēs
“Ice; frost”
Late Latin
Latin
glaciālis
“Of or pertaining to ice”
Old French
Old French
glacial
“Icy; freezing”
Middle English
English
glacial
“Icy, frosty, or relating to ice”
Modern English
English
glacial
“Relating to glaciers or extremely slow and cold in manner”