glean
See also: gleam
English edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Middle English glenen, from Anglo-Norman glener, from Late Latin glen(n)ō (“make a collection”), from Gaulish, possibly from Proto-Celtic *glanos.[1]
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
glean (third-person singular simple present gleans, present participle gleaning, simple past and past participle gleaned)
- To collect what is left behind (grain, grapes, etc.) after the main harvest or gathering.
- Synonym: lease
- c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v]:
- To glean the broken ears after the man / That the main harvest reaps.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ruth 2:2:
- Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace.
- To gather what is left in (a field or vineyard).
- to glean a field
- (figurative) To gather information in small amounts, with implied difficulty, bit by bit.
- Synonym: learn
- 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC:
- content to glean what we can from […] experiments
- 8 December 2011, BBC News, Iran shows film of captured US drone, available in http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16098562 :
- He said Iran was "well aware of what priceless technological information" could be gleaned from the aircraft.
- To frugally accumulate resources from low-yield contexts.
- 1912, Edith and Warner Oland, “Biographical Note”, in Three Plays By August Strindberg, page xi:
- He [August Strindberg] gleaned a living from newspaper work for a few months, but in the summer went to a fishing village […] where […] he wrote his great historical drama Master Olof.
Translations edit
harvest grain left behind after the crop has been reaped
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gather information in small amounts, with implied difficulty, bit by bit
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Noun edit
glean (plural gleans)
- A collection made by gleaning.
- 1697, Virgil, “The Fourth Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
- The gleans of yellow thyme distend his thighs.
Etymology 2 edit
Noun edit
glean
- (obsolete) cleaning; afterbirth
- 1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book II.]”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], (please specify |tome=1 or 2), London: […] Adam Islip, published 1635, →OCLC:
- The gleane of a Cow hauing newly calued […] is good for any vlcers of the visage.
References edit
- “glean”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “glean”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- ^ Webster, Noah (1828): An American Dictionary of the English Language, Vol. 1
Anagrams edit
Manx edit
Noun edit
glean m
- Eclipsed form of clean.
Mutation edit
| Manx mutation | ||
|---|---|---|
| Radical | Lenition | Eclipsis |
| clean | chlean | glean |
| Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. | ||