To cover something with a smooth, often shiny layer, such as icing on food or a glassy coating on pottery; the coating itself is also called a glaze.
From *glass* with a verbal ending, originally meaning “to make glassy or shine like glass.” It was first used for pottery coatings and glass-like surfaces. Later it extended to food, windows, and even eyes (‘a glazed look’).
A glaze is basically a controlled shine — we use it to make donuts delicious, pots waterproof, and paintings luminous. When someone’s eyes ‘glaze over,’ it’s as if a thin layer of disconnection has slid between them and the world.
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