gleam

Meanings

Noun

• A small or indistinct shaft or stream of light.
• A glimpse or hint; an indistinct sign of something.
• Brightness or shininess; splendor.

Verb

• To shine; to glitter; to glisten.
• To be briefly but strongly apparent.
• To disgorge filth, as a hawk.

Origin

• From Middle English gleme, from Old English glæm, from Proto-Germanic *glaimiz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰley-.
• Derived from the Middle English noun form before the first millennium.