gleam

== English == === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɡliːm/ (General American) IPA(key): /ɡlim/ Rhymes: -iːm === 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”). ==== Noun ==== gleam (countable and uncountable, plural gleams) (countable) An appearance of light, especially one which is indistinct or small, or short-lived. Synonym: (Britain, dialectal) leam (countable, figuratively) An indistinct sign of something; a glimpse or hint. Synonyms: flicker, glimmer, trace A bright, but intermittent or short-lived, appearance of something. A look of joy or liveliness on one's face. (obsolete) (countable) Sometimes as hot gleam: a warm ray of sunlight; also, a period of warm weather, for instance, between showers of rain. (uncountable) Brightness or shininess; radiance, splendour. Synonyms: dazzle, lambency, shine ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== === 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”). ==== Verb ==== gleam (third-person singular simple present gleams, present participle gleaming, simple past and past participle gleamed) (transitive) Chiefly in conjunction with an adverb: to cause (light) to shine. (intransitive) To shine, especially in an indistinct or intermittent manner; to glisten, to glitter. Synonyms: glint, glow, (Britain, dialectal) leam, sparkle (figuratively) To be strongly but briefly apparent. Synonyms: flare, flash, kindle ===== Conjugation ===== ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== === 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”)). ==== Verb ==== gleam (third-person singular simple present gleams, present participle gleaming, simple past and past participle gleamed) (intransitive, falconry, obsolete) Of a hawk or other bird of prey: to disgorge filth from its crop or gorge. === References === === Further reading === gleam (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia “gleam”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN. “gleam, n. and v.”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present, reproduced from Stuart Berg Flexner, editor in chief, Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2nd edition, New York, N.Y.: Random House, 1993, →ISBN. "gleam" in WordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003. === Anagrams === Gamel, megal-