Word of the Day: Glimmer
glimmer
glim-mer / glĭm-ər
noun
1. a faint or flickering glow of light
A glimmer of light is better than no illumination at all.
John James Cowperthwaite, 1915 – 2006
2. a barely perceivable sign or manifestation; a trace
You find a glimmer of happiness in this world, there’s always someone who wants to destroy it.
James M. Barrie, 1860 – 1937
verb
1. to shine faintly or twinkle
Science is still only a candle glimmering in a great pitch-dark cavern.
Mario Vargas Llosa, 1936 –
2. to barely or vaguely appear
There is in the living act of perception always something that glimmers and twinkles and will not be caught, and for which reflection comes too late.
William James, 1842 – 1910
3. to reflect a faint glow or twinkle
Frost glimmered on the morning fields.
From “Wildwood Boys” by James Carlos Blake, 1947 –
etymology
From the Middle English verb glemeren/glimeren (shine) of Germanic origin; see the Dutch verb glimmeren and the German verb glimmen of the same meaning.
Thank you to Allen Ward for providing this etymology.
