gleam

See also glean

English

Etymology

• (noun) Originates before the first millennium from Middle English gleme, from Old English glæm; see Proto-Indo-European *ghel-.
• (verb) Derived from the Middle English noun form before the first millennium.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːm

Noun

gleam (plural gleams)

1. a small or indistinct shaft or stream of light.
2. a glimpse or hint; an indistinct sign of something.

   The rescue workers preserved a gleam of optimism that they might still survive.

3. brightness or shininess; splendor.

Synonyms

• (small shaft or stream of light) beam, ray
• (glimpse or indistinct sign) flicker, glimmer, trace
• (brightness or splendor) dazzle, lambency, shine

Translations

small shaft or stream of light

Finnish: säde (fi)

French: rayon (fr) m., reflet (fr) m., miroitement (fr) m.

glimpse or indistinct sign

Armenian: նշույլ (hy) (nšuyl) Finnish: pilkahdus

Romanian: urmă (ro) f.

brightness or splendor

Finnish: loisto (fi), välke (fi)

Romanian: strălucire (ro) f.

Verb

gleam (third-person singular simple present gleams, present participle gleaming, simple past and past participle gleamed)

1. To shine; to glitter; to glisten.
2. To be briefly but strongly apparent.
3. (obsolete, falconry) To disgorge filth, as a hawk.

Synonyms

• (to shine, glitter, or glisten) glint, sparkle
• (to radiate or emanate) glow, shine
• (to be briefly but strongly apparent) flare, flash, kindle

Translations

to shine, glitter, or glisten

Esperanto: glimi (eo) Finnish: kiiltää (fi), välkkyä (fi), välkehtiä (fi), hohtaa (fi)

French: luire (fr)

to be briefly but strongly apparent

Finnish: vilahtaa, vilkahtaa, pilkahtaa

References

• “gleam” in The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.
• “gleam” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.
• "gleam" in On-line Medical Dictionary, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1997–2005.
• "gleam" in WordNet 3.0, Princeton University, 2006.