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Origin and history of glum

glum(adj.)

1540s, "sullen, moody, frowning," from Middle English gloumen (v.) "become dark" (c. 1300), later gloumben "look gloomy or sullen" (late 14c.); see gloom. Or from or influenced by Low German glum "gloomy, troubled, turbid." In English the word was also formerly a noun meaning "a sullen look" (1520s). An 18c. extended or colloquial form glump led to the expression the glumps "a fit of sulkiness." Glunch (1719) was a Scottish variant. Related: Glumly; glumness.

also from 1540s

Entries linking to glum

gloom(n.)

1590s, originally Scottish, "a sullen look," probably from gloom (v.) "look sullen or displeased" (late 14c., gloumen), of unknown origin; perhaps from an unrecorded Old English verb or from a Scandinavian source (compare Norwegian dialectal glome "to stare somberly"), or from Middle Low German glum "turbid," Dutch gluren "to leer." Not considered to be related to Old English glom "twilight" (see gloaming).

Sense of "darkness, obscurity" is first recorded 1629 in Milton's poetry; that of "melancholy, dejection, cloudiness or cheerless heaviness of mind" is from 1744; but gloomy with a corresponding sense is attested from 1580s.

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    Trends of glum

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    gloat
    1570s, "to look at furtively," probably a variant of earlier glout "gaze attentively, stare, scowl, look glum, pout" (mid...
    sour
    Old English sur "sharp and acidic to the taste, tart, acid, fermented," from Proto-Germanic *sura- "sour" (source also of Old Norse surr, Middle Dutch suur, Dutch zuur, Old High German sur, German sauer), from PIE root *suro- "sour, salty, bitter" (source also of Old Church Slavo
    ours
    "that or those belonging to us," c. 1300, oures, a double possessive (with genitive suffix -s (1)), originating in northern England, it has taken over the absolute function of our (q.v.). In Middle English ourn, ouren also were used. Ours is a later possessive form from our, and
    moody
    "angry, quarrelsome," 12c., from Old English modig "brave, proud, high-spirited, impetuous, arrogant," from Proto-Germanic *modago- (source also of Old Saxon modag, Dutch moedig, German mutig, Old Norse moðugr); see mood (n.1) + -y (2). Meaning "subject to or indulging in gloomy
    dark
    Middle English derk, later dark, from Old English deorc "without light, lacking light or brightness (especially at night), obscure, gloomy;" figuratively "sad, cheerless; sinister, wicked," from Proto-Germanic *derkaz (source also of Old High German tarchanjan "to hide, conceal")
    sullen
    1570s, an alteration of Middle English solein, soleyn "unique, singular, remarkable, strange;" also "solitary, lone, unmarried" (late 14c.), from Anglo-French *solein, formed on the pattern of Old French solain "lonely," from soul "single," from Latin solus "by oneself, alone" (s
    saturnine
    "gloomy, morose, sluggish, grave, not readily made excited or cheerful," mid-15c., literally "born under the influence of the planet Saturn," from Middle English Saturne (see Saturn) + -ine (1). Old medicine believed these characteristics to be caused or influenced by the astrolo
    the
    definite article, late Old English þe, nominative masculine form of the demonstrative pronoun and adjective. After c.950, it replaced earlier se (masc.), seo (fem.), þæt (neuter), and probably represents se altered by the th- form which was used in all the masculine oblique cases
    hysteria
    nervous disease, 1801, coined in medical Latin as an abstract noun from Greek hystera "womb," from PIE *udtero-, variant of *udero- "abdomen, womb, stomach" (see uterus). Originally defined as a neurotic condition peculiar to women and thought to be caused by a dysfunction of the
    consume
    late 14c., "to destroy by separating into parts which cannot be reunited, as by burning or eating," hence "destroy the substance of, annihilate," from Old French consumer "to consume" (12c.) and directly from Latin consumere "to use up, eat, waste," from assimilated form of com-,

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