noun / verb
gloss
A brief explanation or translation of text.
The textbook includes a brief gloss beside each unfamiliar term.
Etymology
The Greek word names a tongue or language and also an unfamiliar word. Explaining such words supplied the sense of a brief explanatory annotation.
More examples
- The editor glosses the old phrase as “before sunrise.”
- She glossed the Latin words in the margin.
- These glosses help readers understand the poem’s references.
Forms
gloss · glosses · glossed · glossing
glossary noun — An alphabetical list of terms with definitions.
Similar words
- annotation
- A note that may comment beyond explaining a word.
- paraphrase
- A restatement of a passage rather than an explanatory note.
- translation
- Renders text in another language, not necessarily with explanation.