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

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• 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 [than the others].”)

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 piece 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