glass
/ɡlæs/noun, verb
glass is spelled G-L-A-S-S: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 71 times per million words in written English, the 1,486th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, glass means “An amorphous solid, often transparent substance, usually made by melting silica sand with various additives (for most purposes, a mixture of soda…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of glass is glasses.
How many letters and syllables are in glass?
| Letters | 5: G-L-A-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 71 times per million words; the 1,486th 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 and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; 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 glass?
Glass appears 71 times per million words in written English, the 1,486th 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 glass?
- UK /ɡlɑːs/
- US /ɡlæs/
- US [ɡlɛəs]
Glass has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-a_glass.ogg, En-us-glass.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with glass?
10 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as glass from its last stressed vowel (/æs/):
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 glass
- glasses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- glassing participle, present
- glassed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does glass mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An amorphous solid, often transparent substance, usually made by melting silica sand with various additives (for most purposes, a mixture of soda, potash and lime is added).
This tabletop is made of glass.
- 2
Any amorphous solid (one without a regular crystal lattice).
Metal glasses, unlike those based on silica, are electrically conductive, which can be either an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on the application.
- 3
A vessel from which one drinks, especially one made of glass, plastic, or similar translucent or semi-translucent material.
Would you like a glass of wine?
- 4
The quantity of liquid contained in such a vessel.
There is half a glass of milk in each pound of chocolate we produce.
- 5
Glassware.
We collected art glass.
- 6
A mirror.
She adjusted her lipstick in the glass.
- 7
A magnifying glass or loupe.
- 8
A telescope.
verb
- 1
To fit with glass; to glaze.
- 2
To enclose in glass.
- 3
Clipping of fibreglass (“to fit, cover, fill, or build, with fibreglass-reinforced resin composite (fiberglass)”).
- 4
UKcolloquialTo strike (someone), particularly in the face, with a drinking glass with the intent of causing injury.
JUDD. Any trouble last night? LES. Usual. Couple of punks got glassed.
- 5
To bombard an area (most often a planet) with such intensity (by means of a nuclear bomb, fusion bomb, etc) as to melt the landscape into glass.
- 6
To view through an optical instrument such as binoculars.
- 7
To smooth or polish (leather, etc.), by rubbing it with a glass burnisher.
- 8
archaicTo reflect; to mirror.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Glass in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | verre , loupe , longue-vue, télescope |
| German | Glas |
| Portuguese | vidro , copo, taça |
| Spanish | cristal, vidrio, vítreo , vaso, copa, traste |
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 glass come from?
From Middle English glas, from Old English glæs, from Proto-West Germanic *glas, from Proto-Germanic *glasą, possibly related to Proto-Germanic *glōaną (“to shine”) (compare glow), and ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵʰleh₁- (“to shine, shimmer, glow”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).