glimmer

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English glimeren, also glemeren,^[2][3][4] which the OED takes to be inherited from Old English *glimorian, a frequentative of the root of glim and gleam.^[5] The Shorter Oxford, Hoad and the Oxford Dictionary of English think it probably of Scandinavian origin, comparing Swedish glimra and Danish glimre,^[6][7][8] and the MED suggests Middle Low German, comparing Middle Dutch glimmen and Middle High German glimmern.^[2] Etymonline likewise suggests the Middle Dutch verb or Middle Low German glimmern.^[9] All these come from an extended form of Proto-Germanic *glim-, the base of Old English glæm (“brightness”), the source of gleam;^{[9][7][10][11]} Barnhart and Klein see a frequentative related to the Old English noun.^[11][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To shine brightly, to glitter: in William of Palerne, from before 1375, of "glimerand gold",^[2][11] and about 1400 in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

The bright sense died out in the early 16th century (the OED's last record is from 1533),^[5][11] leaving the weaker sense of shining faintly or unsteadily, recorded from 1483 in the Catholicon Anglicum.^[5][9][12] Figurative uses followed from 1561.^[5] From 1579 the verb could also mean to look with half-closed eyes or see dimly.^[5] The noun, a faint or wavering light, is dated by Etymonline to the 1580s^[9] and by Merriam-Webster to 1590;^[4] the OED's first record is from Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors.^[5] Its figurative sense, a faint sign of hope or knowledge, dates from 1837.^[5] In thieves' cant glimmer meant fire from 1567, in Harman,^[5][13] and later, in the plural, the eyes (1814).^[5] The American slang to go glimmering, to fade away or come to nothing, is from 1891.^[5] In Scotland and northern English dialect the verb also meant to blink, as from poor sight.^[14]

Timeline

• before 1375 – to shine brightly (obsolete by 1533).^[2][5]
• 1483 – to shine faintly or unsteadily.^[5]
• 1561 – figurative uses of the verb.^[5]
• 1567 – noun, in thieves' cant, fire.^[5][13]
• 1579 – to look with half-closed eyes; to see dimly.^[5]
• before 1616 – noun, a faint or wavering light.^[5]
• 1837 – noun, a faint sign or perception, as of hope.^[5]
• 1891 – go glimmering, to fade away (US slang).^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To shine faintly or unsteadily; to flicker: A single lamp glimmered at the end of the lane.^[15][4][5]
2. To appear faintly or dimly: A trace of doubt glimmered in his eyes.^[15][4]
3. go glimmering: to fade away or come to nothing.^[5]
4. (obsolete, 1400–1533) To shine brightly; to glitter.^[5][6]

Noun

1. A faint or wavering light; a soft shimmer.^[15][4][5]
2. A faint sign or idea of something: a glimmer of understanding.^[15][4][5]

Word family

• aglimmer

Related words

• gleam
• glim
• glimpse

Usage notes

A separate noun glimmer, mica, recorded from 1683, was borrowed from German Glimmer, from glimmen (“to glow”).^[5][6][4] Johnson (1755) gave it as a second sense of the noun.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
11. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
12. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
14. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
15. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
16. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.