glint

Meanings

1. A short flash of light, usually when reflected off a shiny surface.
2. A brief look; a glance.

1. Not sharp; dull.

1. To flash or gleam briefly.
2. To glance; to peep forth, as a flower from the bud; to glitter.
3. To cause to flash or gleam; to reflect.
4. To dry; to wither.

Etymology

15th century. Borrowed from Scots glint, from Middle English glenten (“to shine, gleam; flash”), probably from Old Norse *glenta, from Proto-Germanic *glantijaną, causitive of Proto-Germanic *glintaną (“to gleam, shine”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰley- (“to shine”). Cognate with Danish glente, Swedish glänta, Norwegian Nynorsk gletta (“to peep, look”), Middle High German glinzen; compare also Swedish glinta (“to slip, slide, gleam, shine”), Swedish glimt (“flash, glint, glimpse”), Norwegian Nynorsk glanta, gletta (“to glide, slip”). Reintroduced into literary English by Robert Burns.