gloss

/ˈgläs/

akin to Middle High German glosen to glow, shine; akin to Old English geolu yellow

noun

  1. a surface luster or brightness : shine

  2. a deceptively attractive appearance

  3. bright often superficial attractiveness

verb

  1. to mask the true nature of : give a deceptively attractive appearance to —used with over

  2. to deal with (a subject or problem) too lightly or not at all —used with over

  3. to give a gloss to

noun

  1. a brief explanation (as in the margin or between the lines of a text) of a difficult or obscure word or expression

  2. a false and often willfully misleading interpretation (as of a text)

  3. glossary