noun
- a tiny, quick flash of light.
- gleaming brightness; luster.
- a brief or slight manifestation or occurrence; inkling; trace.
verb (used without object)
- to shine with a glint.
- to move suddenly; dart.
verb (used with object)
- to cause to glint; reflect.
verb
- to gleam or cause to gleam brightly
noun
- a bright gleam or flash
- brightness or gloss
- a brief indication
1787, from Scottish, where apparently it survived as an alteration of Middle English glenten “gleam, flash, glisten” (mid-15c.), from a Scandinavian source (cf. Norwegian gletta “to look,” dialectal Swedish glinta “to shine”), from Proto-Germanic *glent-, from PIE *ghel- “to shine, glitter, glow, be warm” (see glass). Reintroduced into literary English by Burns. Related: Glinted; glinting.
1540s (modern use from 1826), from glint (v.).