glue

C2+ Topic:Materials & Substances

US /ɡlu/ UK /ɡluː/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
an adhesive substance for joining things; to stick fast

She used glue to mend the broken handle of the cup.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an adhesive substance for... adhesive paste cement gummucilagestick affix

Opposites

unstickdetach

Word family

Derived forms gluedglueygluing

Related forms glutenglutinous

Simplified etymology

Glue entered English in the Middle English period and ultimately goes back to Latin gluten, meaning ‘glue’. Gluten and agglutinate come from the same Latin source.

Etymology

From Old French glu ('birdlime, glue'), from Late Latin glus (stem glut-), related to gluten ('glue').

glu Old French glus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Materials & Substances

External links

# glue

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ɡlu/
**IPA (UK):** /ɡluː/

## Meanings
1. an adhesive substance for joining things; to stick fast

## Examples
- She used glue to mend the broken handle of the cup.

## Synonyms
- adhesive
- paste
- cement
- gum
- mucilage
- stick
- affix

## Antonyms
- unstick
- detach

## Derived Forms
- glued
- gluey
- gluing

## Related Forms
- gluten
- glutinous

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: glu
- Root: glus

## Etymology
From Old French glu ('birdlime, glue'), from Late Latin glus (stem glut-), related to gluten ('glue').

## AI Etymology
Glue comes from Old French glu ('birdlime, glue'), from Late Latin glus (stem glut-), related to gluten ('glue'). The etymological trail includes Old French glu and Latin glus. As a noun, glue names an adhesive substance for joining things; to stick fast. The same family is visible in derived forms such as glued, gluey, and gluing and related forms such as gluten and glutinous.

## Topics
- Materials & Substances

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