Feeling happy, pleased, or thankful about something.
From Old English *glæd* meaning “bright, shining, cheerful,” related to words in other Germanic languages for smooth or shining. It originally had a sense of brightness and smoothness, which shifted into inner brightness — happiness.
Being ‘glad’ was once like being ‘bright’ — happiness was imagined as a kind of inner light. Many languages link joy with brightness (think ‘radiant’ or ‘brilliant’), hinting that our brains literally see happiness as a change in light.
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