gleam

See also: glean

English

Etymology

• (noun) From Middle English gleme, from Old English glæm, from Proto-Germanic *glaimiz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰley-.
• (verb) Derived from the Middle English noun form before the first millennium.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡliːm/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːm

Noun

gleam (plural gleams)

1. A small or indistinct shaft or stream of light.

   Synonyms: beam, ray

   • 1860, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Landlord’s Tale. Paul Revere’s Ride.”, in Tales of a Wayside Inn, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, OCLC 840321886, page 22:

     And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height / A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!

2. (figuratively) A glimpse or hint; an indistinct sign of something.

   Synonyms: flicker, glimmer, trace

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

3. Brightness or shininess; splendor.

   Synonyms: dazzle, lambency, shine

   • 1713, Alexander Pope, “Windsor-Forest. […]”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717, OCLC 43265629:

     In the clear azure gleam the flocks are seen.

   • 1966, Bobby Hebb (lyrics and music), “Sunny”:

     Sunny, thank you for that smile upon your face / Sunny, thank you, thank you for the gleam that flows its grace

Translations

small shaft or stream of light

• Bulgarian: лъч (bg) m (lǎč)
• Finnish: säde (fi), pilkahdus (fi)
• French: rayon (fr) m, reflet (fr) m, miroitement (fr) m
• German: Schimmer (de) m, Schein (de) m

• Greek: αχτίδα (el) f (achtída)
• Irish: léaró m
• Occitan: lusida, entrelusida
• Russian: (сла́бый) свет (ru) m (svet), (ray) луч (ru) m (luč)
• Turkish: parıltı (tr)

glimpse or indistinct sign

• Armenian: նշույլ (hy) (nšuyl)
• Bulgarian: блещукане (bg) n (bleštukane), проблясък (bg) m (probljasǎk)
• Finnish: pilkahdus (fi), kipinä (fi)
• German: Schimmer (de) m, Funke (de) m

• Romanian: urmă (ro) f
• Russian: про́блеск (ru) m (próblesk)
• Turkish: belirti (tr)

brightness or splendor

• Bulgarian: блясък (bg) m (bljasǎk)
• Finnish: loisto (fi), välke (fi), hohto (fi)
• German: Funkeln n, Strahlen (de) n, Glanz (de) m (reflected from a surface, hair, skin)

• Romanian: strălucire (ro) f
• Russian: (flash) вспы́шка (ru) f (vspýška), (brilliance, glitter) блеск (ru) m (blesk)
• Turkish: parlaklık (tr)

Verb

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

1. To shine; to glitter; to glisten.

   Synonyms: glint, sparkle, glow, shine

2. To be briefly but strongly apparent.

   Synonyms: flare, flash, kindle

3. (obsolete, falconry) To disgorge filth, as a hawk.

Translations

to shine, glitter, or glisten

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: блестя (bg) (blestja)
• Esperanto: glimi, brileti
• Finnish: kiiltää (fi), välkkyä (fi), välkehtiä, hohtaa (fi)
• French: luire (fr)
• German: schimmern (de)

• Gothic: 𐌲𐌻𐌹𐍄𐌼𐌿𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌽 (glitmunjan)
• Latin: fulgeō
• Maori: ramarama, rarama, titiwha, kohae, hahana
• Quechua: lliphlly
• Swedish: glimra (sv), glänsa (sv), skina (sv)

to be briefly but strongly apparent

• Bulgarian: просветвам (bg) (prosvetvam)

• Finnish: vilahtaa, vilkahtaa, pilkahtaa (fi)
• German: aufblitzen (de)

See also

• leam

References

• “gleam”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.
• “gleam” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• "gleam" in On-line Medical Dictionary, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1997–2005.
• "gleam" in WordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.

Anagrams

• Gamel, megal-