Glossy means having a bright shiny surface. Glossy paper, a glossy finish, glossy hair.
The shine comes from a smooth surface reflecting light in one direction rather than scattering it, which is why matte and glossy differ in texture and not in colour. A glossy magazine is printed on coated paper, and the word came to mean the magazine itself. Note gloss, whose origin is uncertain.
1adjectiveglossyHaving a bright shiny surface.
“The horse's coat was glossy after a good brushing.”
glossy is a quality of shine.
Proto-Indo-European
*ǵʰel- — to flourish; be green or yellow
Proto-Germanic
*glus- — to glow, shine
Dutch
gloos — a glow, flare
English
gloss
English, today
glossy
Built from
From gloss + -y. gloss Probably from a gmq - language, compare Icelandic glossi (“spark, flame”), glossa (“to flame”); or perhaps from dialectal Dutch gloos (“a glow, flare”), related to West Frisian gloeze (“a glow”), Middle Low German glȫsen (“to smoulder, glow”), German glosen (“to smoulder”); ultimately from Proto-Germanic glus- (“to glow, shine”), from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰel- (“to flourish; be green or yellow”). More at glow.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA