different between sparkle vs sheen

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?sp??k?l/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?sp??k?l/
• Rhymes: -??(r)k?l
• Homophone: SPARQL

Etymology 1

From Middle English sparkel, sparkle, sparcle, equivalent to spark +? -le (diminutive suffix).

Noun

sparkle (countable and uncountable, plural sparkles)

1. A little spark; a scintillation.
   • 1856-1858, William H. Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip II

     The shock was sufficiently strong to strike out some sparkles of his fiery temper.

2. Brilliance; luster.

3. Liveliness; vivacity.

4. The quality of being sparkling or fizzy; effervescence.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English sparklen, sperclen, equivalent to spark +? -le (frequentative verb). Cognate with Dutch sparkelen (“to sparkle”).

Alternative forms

• sparckle, sparcle (obsolete)

Verb

sparkle (third-person singular simple present sparkles, present participle sparkling, simple past and past participle sparkled)

1. (intransitive) To emit sparks; to throw off ignited or incandescent particles

2. (by extension) To shine as if throwing off sparks; to emit flashes of light; to scintillate; to twinkle

   • A Mantelet vp on his shulder hangynge
     Bretful of Rubies reede / as fyr sparklynge
3. (intransitive) To manifest itself by, or as if by, emitting sparks; to glisten; to flash.
4. (intransitive) To emit little bubbles, as certain kinds of liquors; to effervesce

5. (transitive) To emit in the form or likeness of sparks.
6. (transitive, obsolete) To disperse.
7. (transitive, obsolete) To scatter on or over.

Synonyms

• (glisten, flash): shine, glisten, scintillate, radiate, coruscate, glitter, twinkle

Derived terms

• asparkle
• sparkler
• sparkling water

Translations

References

• sparkle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• kerslap

Middle English

Noun

sparkle

1. Alternative form of sparkel

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