different between sheen vs glimmer

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: sh?n, IPA^(key): /?i?n/
• Rhymes: -i?n

Etymology 1

From Middle English shene, schene, from Old English s??ene (“beautiful, fair, bright, brilliant, light”), from Proto-West Germanic *skaun?, from Proto-Germanic *skauniz (“beautiful”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewh?-.

Cognate with Scots schene, scheine (“beautiful, fair, attractive”), Saterland Frisian skeen (“clean, pure”), West Frisian skjin (“nice, clean”), Dutch schoon (“clean, beautiful, fair”), German schön (“beautiful”), Danish skøn (“beautiful”), Norwegian Bokmål skjønn (“beautiful”), Norwegian Nynorsk skjønn (“beautiful”), Swedish skön (“beautiful, fine”). Compare also the loanword Finnish kaunis (“beautiful”). See also English show.

Adjective

sheen (comparative sheener, superlative sheenest)

1. (rare, poetic) Beautiful, good-looking, attractive; radiant; shiny.

Derived terms

• sheenly

Noun

sheen (countable and uncountable, plural sheens)

1. Splendor; radiance; shininess.
   • 1946, Mervyn Peake, Titus Groan

2. A thin layer of a substance (such as oil) spread on a solid or liquid surface.
   • 2017, Jeffrey Miller, Ann Powers, Introduction to Environmental Law: Cases and Materials on Water Pollution Control, West Academic (?ISBN)

Derived terms

• sheenful
• sheenless
• sheeny

Translations

Verb

sheen (third-person singular simple present sheens, present participle sheening, simple past and past participle sheened)

1. (rare, intransitive, poetic) To shine; to glisten.

Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

sheen (plural sheens)

1. The letter ? in the Arabic script.

Further reading

• sheen on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

English

Etymology

From Middle English glimeren, glemeren (“to glimmer”), equivalent to glim (“to shine”) +? -er (frequentative suffix). Cognate with German Low German glimmern (“to glimmer”), German glimmern (“to glimmer”), Danish glimre (“to glimmer”), Swedish glimra (“to glimmer”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??l?m?(?)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??l?m?/
• Rhymes: -?m?(?)

Noun

glimmer (plural glimmers)

1. A faint light; a dim glow.

   The glimmer of the fireflies was pleasant to watch.

2. A flash of light.
3. A faint or remote possibility.

   A glimmer of hope.

4. (dated) mica

Synonyms

• (flash of light): sparkle, shimmer

Translations

Verb

glimmer (third-person singular simple present glimmers, present participle glimmering, simple past and past participle glimmered)

1. (intransitive) To shine with a faint, unsteady light.

   The fireflies glimmered in the dark.

   the glimmering dawn; a glimmering lamp

Synonyms

• (shine with faint unsteady light): flicker, shimmer, twinkle

Translations

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Derived from glimre (“glitter, glisten, sparkle”). Sense 2 is from German Glimmer. Has also undergone influence from English.

Noun

glimmer m (definite singular glimmeren, uncountable)

1. (literary and formal) magnificence, glitter, tinsel, something that shines

   Rikdommens glimmer

   The tinsel of wealth

2. mica

Synonyms

• (sense 1) glans, prakt, herlighet
• (sense 2) kråkesølv, mica, mikanitt

Derived terms

• glimmerskifer
• Lys glimmer = white mica (literally: "bright mica")

References

• “glimmer” in The Ordnett Dictionary
• “glimmer” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Derived from glimre (“glitter, glisten, sparkle”), with influence from English. The definition is from German Glimmer.

Noun

glimmer m (definite singular glimmeren, uncountable)

1. mica

Synonyms

• kråkesølv, mica, mikanitt

Derived terms

• glimmerskifer
• Lys glimmer = white mica (literally: "bright mica")

References

• “glimmer” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.