different between twinkle vs trinkle

English

Etymology

From Middle English twinclen, twynclen, from Old English twinclian (“to twinkle”), equivalent to twink (“to wink; blink; twinkle”) +? -le (frequentative suffix). Compare German zwinkern (“to wink; twinkle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?tw??kl?/
• Rhymes: -??k?l

Verb

twinkle (third-person singular simple present twinkles, present participle twinkling, simple past and past participle twinkled)

1. (of a source of light) to shine with a flickering light; to glimmer

   • These stars do not twinkle when viewed through telescopes that have large apertures.
2. (chiefly of eyes) to be bright with delight

   Synonym: sparkle

3. to bat, blink or wink the eyes
   • 1922, Mrs. Juliet M. Hueffer Soskice, Chapters from Childhood: Reminiscences of an Artist's Granddaughter, page 165

     She smiled and gave a little nod and twinkled her eyes […]
4. to flit to and fro
   • 1988, Dorothy Gilman, Mrs. Pollifax and the Golden Triangle, page 190

     A butterfly twinkled among the vines […]

Synonyms

• glimmer
• scintillate
• wink

Derived terms

• twinkler

Translations

Noun

twinkle (plural twinkles)

1. a sparkle or glimmer of light
   • 1980, Robert De Beaugrande, Text, Discourse, and Process

     Soon the rocket was out of sight, and the flame was only seen as a tiny twinkle of light.

2. a sparkle of delight in the eyes.

3. a flitting movement
   • 1848, James Russell Lowell, Hebe

     I saw the twinkle of white feet,

4. (colloquial) A brief moment; a twinkling.
5. (childish) The female genitalia.

Translations

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?t???k?l/

Verb

trinkle (third-person singular simple present trinkles, present participle trinkling, simple past and past participle trinkled)

1. (Scotland, rare) To trickle.
2. (rare) To tinkle.
3. (obsolete) To act secretly, or in an underhand way; to tamper.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Wright to this entry?)

References

[1] (the tears trinkled down her cheeks), [2] (the tears trinkled down Trim's cheeks], [3] (my own heart's blood came trinkling down)

Anagrams

• Tinkler, tinkler