The prefix gloss, often seen in forms like gloss- or glosso-, comes from two different Greek roots that have different meanings, which can be confusing. The more common academic prefix glosso- or gloss- comes from Greek glossa, meaning tongue, language, or speech. This root appears in many words related to language and the tongue. For example, glossary is a list of words, glottology is the study of language, glossolalia is speaking in tongues, and glossitis is inflammation of the tongue. In medical terminology, gloss- refers to the tongue, as in glossopharyngeal nerve. The other root that looks similar is from Greek glossa in the sense of a difficult word needing explanation, which is related to the first, and also leads to words like gloss and glossator. There is a separate but similar looking prefix in some scientific terms from Greek gloia meaning glue, but that is rare. So when you see gloss as a prefix in English, it almost always means related to tongue, language, or a word needing explanation, not related to shine, even though the English word gloss meaning shine has a different etymological origin from Germanic roots.
1 votes
Marked as accepted