gleich

From Middle High German gelīch, from Old High German gilīh, from Proto-West Germanic *galīk, from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz. Cognates include German gleich, Dutch gelijk, English alike, Yiddish גלײַך (glaykh), Old Norse líkr, glíkr, and Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃 (galeiks).

• IPA^(key): /ɡ̥lɑɛ̯ç/
• IPA^(key): /ɡ̥læːç/ (East Central, Vienna)

gleich (not comparable)

1. all the same

   Mir is's gleich. ― I don't care. (literally, “To me it is the same.”)

• glei

From Middle High German gelīch, from Old High German gilīh, from Proto-West Germanic *galīk, from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz. Cognate with Dutch gelijk, English alike, Swedish lik, Danish lig.

• IPA^(key): /ɡlaɪ̯ç/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ̯ç

gleich (strong nominative masculine singular gleicher, not comparable)

1. equal

   Zwei plus zwei ist gleich vier.

   Two plus two is equal to four.

2. same; very similar

   Zufälligerweise hatten wir beide die gleiche Idee.

   Coincidentally, we both had the same idea.

3. (often proscribed) same; identical

• See derselbe for notes on the prescribed distinction between this word and gleich.
• The comparative forms are rather rare. They occur chiefly in colloquial or informal usage; for example: Diese beiden Socken sind ziemlich gleich, aber die anderen beiden sind noch gleicher. (“These two socks are pretty identical, but those other two are even more identical.”) There is also a common humorous saying that goes: Im Kommunismus waren alle gleich. Aber manche waren gleicher. (“Everyone was equal in communism. But some were more equal .”)

gleich

1. alike

   Er malt alle seine Bilder gleich.

   He paints all of his pictures alike.

2. in a moment

   Warte, ich komme gleich zu dir.

   Hold on, I'll come to you in a moment.

3. at once, at a time, simultaneously

   Weil ich hungrig war, habe ich mir gleich zwei Stücke Kuchen vom Buffet genommen.

   Because I was hungry, I took two pieces of cake at once from the buffet.

   • 2010, Der Spiegel‎, number 40/2010, page 142:

     Entdeckung im All: Gleich zwei erdähnliche Planeten kreisen um den Zwergstern Gliese 581.

     Discovery in the universe: two Earth-like planets at once revolve around the dwarf star Gliese 581.

4. right; just; directly

   Mein Haus befindet gleich neben dem Stadtpark.

   My house is located right next to the city park.

5. now; immediately; straight away

   Nachdem sie im Hotel angekommen war, legte sie sich gleich ins Bett.

   After she had arrived at the hotel, she immediately went to bed.

• “gleich” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “gleich” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “gleich (konvergent, einförmig)” in Duden online

Compare German gleich, Dutch gelijk, English like.

gleich

1. equal
2. like
3. same