different between glim vs glint

English

Etymology

From Middle English glim, glimme (“radiance; shining brightness”), of uncertain further origin. Perhaps from Old English gleomu (“splendor”) and/or Old Norse *glim, *glima, both apparently from Proto-Germanic *glim?, from Proto-Indo-European *??ley- (“to gleam, shimmer, glow”). Compare Norwegian Nynorsk glim, dialectal Old Swedish glim, glimma.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?l?m/

Noun

glim (countable and uncountable, plural glims)

1. (obsolete) brightness; splendour
2. (archaic, slang) A light; a candle; a lantern; a fire.
3. (archaic, slang) An eye.
4. (archaic, slang) A pair of glasses or spectacles.
5. (archaic, slang) A look; a glimpse.
6. (archaic, slang) Gonorrhea
7. (archaic, slang) Fake documents claiming the loss of property by fire (for use in begging).

Derived terms

• (eye): glimflashy (“angry”)

Verb

glim (third-person singular simple present glims, present participle glimming, simple past and past participle glimmed)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To brand on the hand.
2. (dated, slang) To illuminate.
3. (dated, slang) To see; to observe.

References

• Farmer, John Stephen (1893) Slang and Its Analogues?^[3], volume 3, pages 153–155

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?m

Verb

glim

1. first-person singular present indicative of glimmen
2. imperative of glimmen

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse [Term?], whence also English glim; from Proto-Germanic *gl?mô (“shine, splendor”).

Noun

glim m or n (definite singular glimen or glimet, indefinite plural glimar or glim, definite plural glimane or glima)

1. glimpse
2. glimmer
3. glitter

Etymology 2

Verb

glim

1. imperative of glime
2. (non-standard since 1938) present tense of glime

References

• “glim” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
• Orel, Vladimir (2003) , “*?l?m?n”, in A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden: Brill, ?ISBN, page 136

English

Etymology

15th century. Borrowed from Scots glint; from Middle English glenten (“to shine, gleam; flash”); probably alteration of Old Norse [Term?]; from Middle High German glinzen; from Proto-Germanic *glintan?, *glintjan?; from Proto-Indo-European *??ley- (“to shine”). Cognate with Swedish glänta, glinta (“to slip, slide, gleam, shine”), Swedish glimt. Reintroduced into literary English by Robert Burns.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?l?nt/
• Rhymes: -?nt

Noun

glint (plural glints)

1. A short flash of light.

   I saw the glint of metal as he raised the gun.

Translations

Adjective

glint (comparative more glint, superlative most glint)

1. (archaic, Shropshire, of a blade) Not sharp; dull.

   The knife is glint.

Verb

glint (third-person singular simple present glints, present participle glinting, simple past and past participle glinted)

1. (intransitive) To flash or gleam briefly.

   A wedding ring glinted on her finger.

2. (intransitive) To glance; to peep forth, as a flower from the bud; to glitter.
   • 1785, Robert Burns, The Holy Fair

     The rising sun owre Galston muirs, / Wi' glorious light was glintin'

3. (transitive) To cause to flash or gleam; to reflect.
   • 1980, Inquiry Magazine

     The scientists theorized that a meteoroid, ranging in size from a speck of dust to a marble, might have struck the satellite and chipped off a bit of debris that glinted a ray of sun back on the Vela's second sensor […]

4. (archaic, Shropshire, transitive) To dry; to wither.

   The sun glints grass and corn.

Translations

References

• Wright, Joseph (1900) The English Dialect Dictionary?^[1], volume 2, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pages 644–645