glitter

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English gliteren, earlier glideren, also gleteren,^[2][3][4] probably borrowed from Old Norse glitra (“to glitter”),^{[5][6][7][8][9][10][11]} from Proto-Germanic *glitrōną.^[12] This is a frequentative verb (compare -er) from the Germanic root seen in Old Saxon glītan (“to shine”), Old High German glīzan (“to shine”) (modern gleißen), glita (“to shine”) and glit (“brightness”).^[5][8][9] It is related to German glitzern (“to sparkle”), Swedish glittra, Old English glitenian (“to glitter, shine”) and Gothic 𐌲𐌻𐌹𐍄𐌼𐌿𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌽 (glitmunjan, “to glisten”).^{[5][10][13][4]} The OED and Klein compare Ancient Greek χλιδή (khlidḗ, “luxury, delicacy”), from Proto-Indo-European *ghleid-,^[5][10][3] which Etymonline derives from *ghel- (“to shine”).^[4] The MED takes the English verb as a blend of the Norse word with gliddrian (“to slip, be unstable”),^[2][14] and Etymonline allows for an unrecorded Old English source.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To flash or sparkle: before 1300, in Arthour and Merlin, where a banner bears "a bright gliderand lyoun".^[2][3] Etymonline dates it to about 1300; the form gliteren appears in the late 14th century.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

Chaucer used the verb four times,^[15] as when the fields "gliteren vp and doun" from the shining statue of Mars in the Knight's Tale.^[2] The MED also records the sense "to have a false or misleading glitter",^[2] while from 1548 it was used figuratively, especially of people, for making a brilliant or showy display.^[5] The proverb all that glitters is not gold goes back at least to the 14th century.^[14] The noun, sparkling light or splendour, is recorded from 1602, in Marston's Antonio's Revenge;^[5][3] Johnson (1755) defined it as "lustre; bright show; splendour", quoting Milton's "false glitter".^[16] The sparkling material used for decoration is recorded by 1956 in Etymonline, in the OED from 1962,^[4][5] and glitter rock from 1972.^[4] In early 20th-century Australian slang glitter was money.^[17]

Timeline

• before 1300 – glideren, to sparkle.^[2][3]
• c. 1385 – gliteren, in Chaucer.^[2]
• 1548 – figurative, to make a showy display.^[5]
• 1602 – noun, glittering light, brilliance.^[5][3]
• 1956 – sparkling decorative material.^[4]
• 1972 – glitter rock.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To shine with many small bright flashes of reflected light; to sparkle: Frost glittered on the lawn.^[18][11][5]
2. To be showy or splendid; to be made brilliant or glamorous by something: The gala glittered with film stars.^[18][5]

Noun

1. Sparkling light; brilliance: the glitter of the lake in the sun.^[18][11][5]
2. Showy attractiveness; glamour: the glitter of a film premiere.^[18][11]
3. Tiny pieces of shiny material used for decoration.^[18][5][4]

Word family

• glitteringly
• glittery
• aglitter
• glitterati
• outglitter
• glitter rock

Related words

• gleam
• glimmer
• glitz
• glister
• yellow

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
13. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
14. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
15. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
16. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
17. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
18. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins