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Gleam

//ɡliːm// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An appearance of light, especially one which is indistinct or small, or short-lived. countable

    "Is not yon gleame, the ſhuddering morne that flakes, / VVith ſiluer tinctur, the eaſt vierge of heauen?"

  2. 2
    an appearance of reflected light wordnet
  3. 3
    An indistinct sign of something; a glimpse or hint. countable, figuratively, uncountable

    "The rescue workers preserved a gleam of optimism that the trapped miners might still survive."

  4. 4
    a flash of light (especially reflected light) wordnet
  5. 5
    A bright, but intermittent or short-lived, appearance of something. countable, figuratively, uncountable
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  1. 6
    A look of joy or liveliness on one's face. countable, figuratively, uncountable

    "[H]is black visage lighted up with a curious, mischievous gleam."

  2. 7
    Sometimes as hot gleam: a warm ray of sunlight; also, a period of warm weather, for instance, between showers of rain. countable, obsolete

    "The Pepper-trees live in Italie; the ſhrub of Caſia or the Canell likevviſe in the Northerly regions; the Frankincenſe tree alſo hath been knovvne to live in Lydia: but vvhere vvere the hote gleames of the Sunne to be found in thoſe regions, either to drie up the vvateriſh humor of the one, or to concot and thicken the gumme and roſin of the other?"

  3. 8
    Brightness or shininess; radiance, splendour. obsolete, uncountable

    "Then vvas the faire Dodonian tree far ſeene, / Vpon ſeauen hills to ſpread his gladſome gleame, / And conquerours bedecked vvith his greene, / Along the bancks of the Auſonian ſtreame: […]"

Verb
  1. 1
    Chiefly in conjunction with an adverb: to cause (light) to shine. transitive

    "Many a dry drop ſeem'd a vveeping teare, / Shed for the ſlaughtred husband by the vvife. / The red bloud reek'd to ſhevv the Painters ſtrife, / And dying eyes gleem'd forth their aſhie lights, / Like dying coales burnt out in tedious nights."

  2. 2
    Of a hawk or other bird of prey: to disgorge filth from its crop or gorge. intransitive, obsolete

    "Gleam, a term uſed after a hawk hath caſt and gleameth, or throweth up filth from her gorge."

  3. 3
    to shine with faint or brief light wordnet
  4. 4
    To shine, especially in an indistinct or intermittent manner; to glisten, to glitter. intransitive

    "Quick to redeem the Prey their plighted Lords / Advance, the Palace gleams vvith ſhining Svvords."

  5. 5
    shine brightly, like a star or a light wordnet
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  1. 6
    To be strongly but briefly apparent. figuratively, intransitive

    "Mr. Crawley spoke these words without hesitation, even with eloquence, standing upright, and with something of a noble anger gleaming over his poor wan face; and, I think that while speaking them, he was happier than he had been for many a long day."

  2. 7
    be shiny, as if wet wordnet

Etymology

Etymology 1

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”)

Etymology 2

From Middle English glemen (“to shine; to glance, look”) [and other forms], from glem, gleam (noun) (see etymology 1) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs). Cognate with German Low German glemen (“to glow, shine”).

Etymology 3

A variant of Middle English gleimen, gleym (“to smear; to make slimy or sticky; to fill up (the stomach); to nauseate; of a slimy or viscous substance: to be stuck together; (figuratively) to captivate, ensnare; to infect with heresy”) [and other forms], probably a blend of glet (“slimy or viscous matter produced by animals; mucus, phlegm; congestion of mucus or phlegm in the body; viscosity”), gleu (“substance used to stick things together, glue; viscous medicine made from plants”), etc. + Old Norse kleima (“to daub, smear”) (whence Old English clǣman (“to smear”)) (ultimately from Proto-Germanic *klaimijaną (“to smear with clay, to mortar”), from *klaimaz (“clay; mortar”), from Proto-Indo-European *gleh₁y- (“to glue, stick; to smear”)).

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