gley

English

Gley (soil)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡleɪ/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪ

Etymology 1

1920s, from Ukrainian глей (hlej, “clayey soil”), from Proto-Slavic *glьjь, from Proto-Indo-European *gl̥h₁y-ó-s, from Proto-Indo-European *gleh₁y-. Cognate of clay.

Alternative forms

• glei

Noun

gley (plural gleys)

1. (soil science) A type of hydric soil, sticky, greenish-blue-grey in colour and low in oxygen.

Synonyms

• gleysol, gleisol

Derived terms

Derived terms

• gleization
• gleyed, gleied

• gleying, gleiing
• gleysolic

Verb

gley (third-person singular simple present gleys, present participle gleying, simple past and past participle gleyed)

1. (soil science) To be converted into this kind of soil.

References

• Melnychuk, O. S., editor (1982–2012), “глей”, in Етимологічний словник української мови [Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language] (in Ukrainian), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka

Etymology 2

From Scots.

Verb

gley (third-person singular simple present gleys, present participle gleying, simple past and past participle gleyed)

1. (Scotland) To squint; to look obliquely; to overlook things.
   • 1800, Banffshire:

     “Muckle lang gleyed Sanny Fite,” shouted the stranger

Related terms

• agley

Anagrams

• gyle

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Scots

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡləi/

Verb

gley (third-person singular simple present gleys, present participle gleyin, simple past gleyed, past participle gleyed)

1. to squint