late 14c., "soil of the earth; cultivated land;" also "a piece of land forming part of a clergyman's benefice," from Old French glebe, from Latin gleba, glaeba "clod, lump of earth," from PIE *glebh- "to roll into a ball" (cognates: Latin globus "sphere;" Old English clyppan "to embrace;" Lithuanian glebys "armful," globti "to embrace, support").