glacial

See also: Glacial

English

Etymology

From French glacial, from Latin glaciālis, from glaciēs (“ice”). The sense "slow" refers to the speed of actual glaciers, typically around 1 meter per day.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɡleɪ.sɪəl/, /ˈɡleɪ.ʃ(ɪ)əl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪʃəl

Adjective

glacial (comparative more glacial, superlative most glacial)

1. Of, or relating to glaciers.

   We examined the glacial deposits.

   Wang Shijin is a glacier expert and director of the Yulong Snow Mountain Glacial and Environmental Observation Research Station.

2. (figuratively) Very slow.
   • 1917, Everybody's Magazine - Volume 37, Issue 2, Ridgeway Company, page 56:

     He could remember a day that he had spent the whole of (he couldn't have been more than ten) running one of the great, creaking freight elevators at a glacial speed, answering the calls of the bell—one ring, five rings, three rings—with an almost unbearable sense of responsiblity.

   • 1953, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Armed Services, Defense Department Authorization and Oversight, U.S. Government Printing Office, page 1251:

     I understand that you commented that the Japanese are moving at glacial speed. This is not the only area where they are moving at glacial speed. They are moving at glacial speed in terms of trade barriers, and it is one thing that the American people recognize.

   • 1999, Michael Goodchild, Max J. Egenhofer, Robin Fegeas, Cliff Kottman, Interoperating Geographic Information Systems, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 133:

     Paradoxically, then, the electronic speed offered by computer-based decision-making is often overwhelmed by the glacial speed of data reformatting and checking.

   • 16 October 2010, “Under the volcano”, in The Economist:

     Progress on judicial reform has been glacial, meeting enormous resistance.

   • 2014, John P. Kotter, Accelerate: Building Strategic Agility for a Faster-Moving World, Harvard Business Review Press, →ISBN, page 96:

     Lower-level people added front-line information that ordinarily wouldn't have made it up the hierarchy to the executive committee (or would have made it at glacial speed).

   • 2014, Stuart E. Eizenstat, The Future of the Jews: How Global Forces are Impacting the Jewish People, Israel, and Its Relationship with the United States, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 105:

     The Gulf States and Saudi Arabia are modernizing but at a glacial speed in a world moving at digital speed.

3. Cold and icy.

   After the rain and frost, the pavements were glacial.

4. Having the appearance of ice.

   On cold days, glacial acetic acid will freeze in the bottle.

5. (figuratively) Cool and unfriendly.

   He gave me a glacial stare.

Hyponyms

• englacial
• interglacial
• monoglacial
• periglacial
• postglacial
• preglacial
• proglacial
• subglacial
• supraglacial

 

Derived terms

• glacial acetic acid
• glacial acid
• glacial buzz saw
• glacial drift
• glacial erratic
• glacial flour
• glacial humour
• glacial lake outburst flood
• glacially
• glacial maximum
• glacial milk
• glacial period
• glacial polish
• glacial till
• glacial trough

 

Translations

relating to glaciers

• Bulgarian: ледников (bg) (lednikov)
• Catalan: glacial (ca)
• Czech: glaciální
• Danish: glacial
• German: glazial (de)
• Greek: παγετωνικός (el) (pagetonikós)
• Ido: glaciera (io), glacierala (io)
• Irish: oighreach
• Manx: rioee
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: glasial

  Nynorsk: glasial

• Polish: lodowcowy (pl), glacjalny (pl)
• Russian: леднико́вый (ru) (lednikóvyj)
• Spanish: glaciar (es)
• Ukrainian: льодовико́вий (lʹodovykóvyj)

cold and icy

• Bulgarian: леден (bg) (leden)
• Catalan: glacial (ca)
• Czech: glaciální
• Finnish: hyinen (fi), jäinen (fi), jäätävä (fi), jääkylmä (fi)
• German: eisig (de), eiskalt (de)
• Ido: glacia (io), glaciala (io), glaciatra (io)
• Spanish: glacial (es), gélido (es)

Noun

glacial (plural glacials)

1. A glacial period (colloquially known as an ice age).

   Synonym: ice age

   Coordinate term: interglacial

Translations

glacial period

• Danish: glacialtid c, istid (da) c
• German: Kaltzeit (de) f, Eiszeit (de) f, Glazial (de) n
• Spanish: glaciación (es) f, era glacial f

Anagrams

• gallica

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ɡlə.siˈal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ɡla.siˈal]

Adjective

glacial m or f (masculine and feminine plural glacials)

1. glacial

Further reading

• “glacial” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “glacial”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “glacial” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “glacial” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Danish

Adjective

glacial

1. glacial

Inflection

Inflection of glacial
	Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Indefinte common singular	glacial	—	—2
Indefinite neuter singular	glacialt	—	—2
Plural	glaciale	—	—2
Definite attributive1	glaciale	—	—
1) When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite, the corresponding "indefinite" form is used. 2) The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

References

• “glacial” in Den Danske Ordbog

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin glaciālis. Morphologically, from glace +‎ -ial.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡla.sjal/
• Homophones: glaciale, glaciales

Adjective

glacial (feminine glaciale, masculine plural glaciaux, feminine plural glaciales)

1. freezing, ice-cold, very cold
2. (figuratively) icy, very cold

Related terms

• glaçant
• glaciaire

Further reading

• “glacial”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Galician

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ɡlaˈθしーたjal/ [ɡlaˈθしーたjɑɫ]

• IPA^(key): (standard) /ɡlaˈθしーたjal/ [ɡlaˈθしーたjɑɫ]
• IPA^(key): (gheada) /ħlaˈθしーたjal/ [ħlaˈθしーたjɑɫ]
• IPA^(key): (gheada and seseo) /ħlaˈsjal/ [ħlaˈsjɑɫ]

• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: gla‧cial

Adjective

glacial m or f (plural glaciais)

1. frozen, at the temperature of ice

   Synonym: xeado

2. glacial, pertaining to glaciers
3. (figuratively) frigid, chilly, not cordial

   Synonym: xélido

Related terms

• glaciación

Further reading

• “glacial”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2024

Norman

Etymology

From Latin glaciālis, from glaciēs (“ice”).

Adjective

glacial m

1. (Jersey) icy

Occitan

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Adjective

glacial m (feminine singular glaciala, masculine plural glacials, feminine plural glacialas)

1. glacial

Further reading

• Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana, L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2024, page 350.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ɡla.siˈaw/ [ɡla.sɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /ɡlaˈsjaw/ [ɡlaˈsjaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɡlɐˈsjal/ [ɡlɐˈsjaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɡlɐˈsjal/ [ɡlɐˈsjaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɡlɐˈsja.li/

• Hyphenation: gla‧ci‧al

Adjective

glacial m or f (plural glaciais)

1. glacial (cold and icy)

   Synonym: gélido

2. glacial (relating to glaciers)
3. (relational) ice age
4. (figurative) glacial; cold (emotionally distant)

   Synonyms: frio, gélido

Further reading

• “glacial” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French glacial, from Latin glacialis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡla.t͡ʃiˈal/

Adjective

glacial m or n (feminine singular glacială, masculine plural glaciali, feminine and neuter plural glaciale)

1. glacial

Declension

Declension of glacial

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	glacial		glacială	glaciali	glaciale
	definite	glacialul		glaciala	glacialii	glacialele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	glacial		glaciale	glaciali	glaciale
	definite	glacialului		glacialei	glacialilor	glacialelor

Further reading

• glacial in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /ɡlaˈθしーたjal/ [ɡlaˈθしーたjal]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /ɡlaˈsjal/ [ɡlaˈsjal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: gla‧cial

Adjective

glacial m or f (masculine and feminine plural glaciales)

1. glacial
2. (figuratively) frigid, chilly, not cordial

Derived terms

• ácido acético glacial

 

Related terms

• glaciación
• glacialmente

 

Further reading

• “glacial”, in Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy, 2023 November 28