gleam

Etymology 1

From Middle English glem, gleam, gleme (“shaft of light; part of a comet’s tail; reflected sparkle; dawn; daylight; radiance (physical or spiritual); something fleeting”), from Old English glǣm (“gleam”), from Proto-Germanic *glaimiz (“brightness; splendour”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰley- (“to shine”). cognates * Old High German glīmen (“to glow, shine”); gleimo, glīmo (“glowworm”) (Middle High German glīme, gleime) * Old Saxon glīmo (“brightness”)

noun

1. (countable) An appearance of light, especially one which is indistinct or small, or short-lived.
   And some of the soldiers since declare / That the gleam of his old white hat afar, / Like the crested plume of the brave Navarre, / That day was their oriflamme of war. 9 May 1868, Fr[ancis] Bret Harte, “John Burns of Gettysburg”, in Littel’s Living Age, volume IX (4th Series; volume XCVII overall), number 1249, Boston, Mass.: Littel & Gay, →OCLC, page 322, column 2
2. (countable, figurative)
   1. An indistinct sign of something; a glimpse or hint.
      The rescue workers preserved a gleam of optimism that the trapped miners might still survive.
   2. A bright, but intermittent or short-lived, appearance of something.
   3. A look of joy or liveliness on one's face.
      Sunny, thank you for that smile upon your face / Sunny, thank you, thank you for the gleam that flows its grace 1963 (date written), Bobby Hebb (lyrics and music), “Sunny”, published June 1966
3. (obsolete)
   1. (countable) Sometimes as hot gleam: a warm ray of sunlight; also, a period of warm weather, for instance, between showers of rain.
   2. (uncountable) Brightness or shininess; radiance, splendour.

Etymology 2

From Middle English glemen (“to shine; to glance, look”) [and other forms], from glem, gleam (noun) (see etymology 1) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs).

verb

1. (transitive) Chiefly in conjunction with an adverb: to cause (light) to shine.
2. (intransitive)
   1. To shine, especially in an indistinct or intermittent manner; to glisten, to glitter.
      Green as a liquid emerald, or the hue / Of the green grape, in autumn sunshine growing! / Even as thou gleamest this golden summer's day! 1842, Mary Howitt, “The Neckar”, in Fisher’s Drawing Room Scrap-book.[…], London, Paris: Fisher, Son & Co.,[…], →OCLC, page 34
      In dew descending on creation's Queen, / Thou gleamedst germlike on her golden hair. 1849 November, R. F., “To the Rain. Lines Written at Rydal.”, in Fraser’s Magazine for Town and Country, volume XL, number CCXXXXIX, London: John W[illiam] Parker,[…], →OCLC, page 497
      Hail, thou overshadowing mount of the Holy Ghost [i.e., Mary, mother of Jesus]. Thou gleamedst, sweet gift-bestowing mother, of the light of the sun; thou gleamedst with the insupportable fires of a most fervent charity, […] 1869, Methodius, “Oration Concerning Simeon and Anna on the Day that They Met in the Temple. The Oration Likewise Treats of the Holy Mother of God.”, in William R[obinson] Clark, transl., edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, The Writings of Methodius, Alexander of Lycopolis, Peter of Alexandria, and Several Fragments (Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325; XIV), Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark,[…]; London: Hamilton & Co.; Dublin: John Robertson & Co., →OCLC, paragraph XIV, page 209
   2. (figurative) To be strongly but briefly apparent.

Etymology 3

A variant of Middle English gleimen, gleym (“to smear; to make slimy or sticky; to fill up (the stomach); to nauseate; of a slimy or viscous substance: to be stuck together; (figuratively) to captivate, ensnare; to infect with heresy”) [and other forms], probably a blend of glet (“slimy or viscous matter produced by animals; mucus, phlegm; congestion of mucus or phlegm in the body; viscosity”), gleu (“substance used to stick things together, glue; viscous medicine made from plants”), etc. + Old Norse kleima (“to daub, smear”) (whence Old English clǣman (“to smear”)) (ultimately from Proto-Germanic *klaimijaną (“to smear with clay, to mortar”), from *klaimaz (“clay; mortar”), from Proto-Indo-European *gleh₁y- (“to glue, stick; to smear”)).

verb

1. (intransitive, falconry, obsolete) Of a hawk or other bird of prey: to disgorge filth from its crop or gorge.
   Gleam, a term uſed after a hawk hath caſt and gleameth, or throweth up filth from her gorge. 1800, “Gleam”, in The Sportsman’s Dictionary; or, The Gentleman’s Companion: For Town and Country.[…], 4th edition, London: […] G. G. and J. Robinson,[…]; by R. Noble,[…], →OCLC, column 1