gland

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ɡlænd/
• Rhymes: -ænd

From Latin glāns (“acorn”).

gland (plural glands)

1. (zoology) An organ that synthesizes a substance, such as hormones or breast milk, and releases it, often into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland).
2. (botany) A secretory structure on the surface of an organ.

• See also Thesaurus:gland

• organ

19th century. Etymology unknown.

gland (plural glands)

1. (mechanical) A compressable cylindrical case and its contents around a shaft where it passes through a barrier, intended to prevent the passage of a fluid past the barrier, such as:
   1. A gland used around a ship’s propeller shaft.
   2. A gland used around a tap, valve or faucet.

From Old French glant, from Latin glāndem, accusative singular of glāns, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelh₂- (“acorn”).

• IPA^(key): /ɡlɑ̃/

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gland m (plural glands)

1. acorn
2. (anatomy) glans
   • 1785, Donatien Alphonse François de Sade, Les 120 journées de Sodome, ou l'École du libertinage

     Brise-cul, vingt-huit ans, l'air d'un satyre, son vit est tortu; la tête ou le gland en est énorme: il a huit pouces trois lignes de tour, et le corps du vit huit pouces sur seize de long; ce vit majestueux est absolument cambré.

3. tassel
4. (vulgar, slang) (of a person) prick, wanker, bell end

• glander

• glande

• “gland” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

• glant

From Latin glāndem, accusative of glāns.

gland m (plural glands)

1. acorn

Borrowed from French gland, from Latin glans, glandis. Doublet of the inherited ghindă.

gland n (plural glanduri)

1. (anatomy) glans penis