gleam

Meaning

Noun

1. (countable) An appearance of light, especially one which is indistinct or small, or short-lived.
2. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) An indistinct sign of something; a glimpse or hint.
3. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) A bright, but intermittent or short-lived, appearance of something.
4. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) A look of joy or liveliness on one's face.
5. (countable, obsolete) Sometimes as hot gleam: a warm ray of sunlight; also, a period of warm weather, for instance, between showers of rain.
6. (obsolete, uncountable) Brightness or shininess; radiance, splendour.

Verb

1. (transitive) Chiefly in conjunction with an adverb: to cause (light) to shine.
2. (intransitive) To shine, especially in an indistinct or intermittent manner; to glisten, to glitter.
3. (figuratively, intransitive) To be strongly but briefly apparent.

Verb

Of a hawk or other bird of prey: to disgorge filth from its crop or gorge.

Synonyms

shine

glitter

flash

sparkle

❇️

glow

glisten

glint

twinkle

glimmer

shimmer

light

beam

flare

flicker

glare

glance

ray

scintillate

blaze

brighten

radiate

gleaming

be bright

brightness

coruscate

flame

spark

ardor

ardour

shine forth

fervor

burnish

lambency

fervour

shaft

fervor

ardour

ardor

glimpse

brilliancy

reflex

radiance

reflect

brilliance

fervour

lustre

passion

reflection

spangle

fulminate

Translations

lueur

brillare

glänzen

luire

resplandecer

barlume

brillar

Schimmer

destello

ακτίδα

fulgurar

strahlen

Schein

scheinen

briller

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ɡliːm/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: glem

Inherited from Old English: glǣm

Cognate with Old High German: glīmen

Cognate with Middle High German: glīme

Cognate with Old Saxon: glīmo

Inherited from Middle English: glemen

In summary

From Middle English glem, gleam, gleme (“shaft of light; part of a comet’s tail; reflected sparkle; dawn; daylight; radiance (physical or spiritual); something fleeting”), from Old English glǣm (“gleam”), from Proto-Germanic *glaimiz (“brightness; splendour”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰley- (“to shine”).
Cognates
* German Low German Gleem (“shine, luster, gloss”)
* Faroese glæma (“gleam, glimmer”)
* Old High German glīmen (“to glow, shine”); gleimo, glīmo (“glowworm”) (Middle High German glīme, gleime)
* Old Saxon glīmo (“brightness”)