glaive
/ɡleɪv/noun
glaive is spelled G-L-A-I-V-E: 6 letters. It appears about once in every 11 million words in written English, the 101,613th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, glaive means “A weapon consisting of a pole with a large blade fixed on the end, the edge of which is on the outside curve” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of glaive is glaives.
How many letters and syllables are in glaive?
| Letters | 6: G-L-A-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 11 million words; the 101,613th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is glaive?
Glaive appears about once in every 11 million words in written English, the 101,613th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce glaive?
- US /ɡleɪv/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-I_learned_some_phrases-glaive.wav, En-us-glaive.mp3, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with glaive?
8 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as glaive from its last stressed vowel (/eɪv/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of glaive
- glaives plural
- glave
- gleave
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does glaive mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
obsoleteA light lance with a long, sharp-pointed head.
- 2
A weapon consisting of a pole with a large blade fixed on the end, the edge of which is on the outside curve.
- 3
archaicA sword, particularly a broadsword.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Glaive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Lanze, Pike, Speer , Gläfe f, Gleve f), Fauchard |
| French | glaive, épée tranchante |
| Portuguese | bisarma |
| Spanish | guja, lanza |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does glaive come from?
From Middle English gleyve (“lance, glaive”), from Old French glaive (“lance; sword”), from Late Latin glavus. The further etymology is uncertain; one possibility is that glavus reflects Latin gladius (“sword”) crossed with clāva (“club”); another is that it derives from a re-crossing of gladius with Proto-Celtic *kladiwos (“sword”); yet another is that it is a borrowing into Late Latin from Old Irish claideb. All of the aforementioned words derive ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₂- (“to beat; to break”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).