# glance

> English word · Verb · IPA /ɡlɑːns/ · frequency rank #8,150

## Definitions
1. To turn (one's eyes or look) at something, often briefly.
2. To look briefly at (something).
3. To cause (light) to gleam or sparkle.
4. To cause (something) to move obliquely.
5. To cause (something) to move obliquely.
6. To cause (something) to move obliquely.
7. To communicate (something) using the eyes.
8. To touch (something) lightly or obliquely; to graze.
9. To make an incidental or passing reflection, often unfavourably, on (a topic); also, to make (an incidental or passing reflection, often unfavourable).
10. To strike and fly off in an oblique direction; to dart aside.
11. To strike and fly off in an oblique direction; to dart aside.
12. To strike and fly off in an oblique direction; to dart aside.
13. Of light, etc.: to gleam, to sparkle.
14. Of a thing: to move in a way that catches light, and flash or glitter.
15. Often followed by at: of the eyes or a person: to look briefly.
16. Often followed by at: of a topic: to make an incidental or passing reflection on, often unfavourably; to allude to; to hint at.
17. Followed by by: to pass near without coming into contact.
18. To move quickly; to dart, to shoot.

## Etymology
The verb is derived from Late Middle English glenchen (“of a blow: to strike obliquely, glance; of a person: to turn quickly aside, dodge”) [and other forms], a blend of:
* Old French glacier, glachier, glaichier (“to slide; to slip”) (whence also Middle English glacen (“of a blow: to strike obliquely, glance; to glide”)), from glace (“frozen water, ice”) (from Vulgar Latin *glacia, from Latin glaciēs (“ice”), of uncertain origin, + -ier (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs); and
* Old French guenchir, ganchir (“to avoid; to change direction; to elude, evade”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *wankijan (“to move aside; to stagger, sway; to wave”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weng- (“to bend”).
The noun is derived from the verb.
The sense "to look briefly (at something)" is probably due to partial conflation with Middle English glenten (“to look askance”)—the ancestor of English glint—in the Middle English period. This conflation may also have reinforced the medial -n-. See English glint

## Easily confused with
- **grace** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glance-vs-grace)
- **gland** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glance-vs-gland)
- **glare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glance-vs-glare)
- **glaze** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glance-vs-glaze)
- **grande** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glance-vs-grande)
- **glands** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glance-vs-glands)
- **grange** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glance-vs-grange)
- **glanced** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glance-vs-glanced)
- **glances** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glance-vs-glances)
- **Glencoe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glance-vs-glencoe)
- **glade** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glade-vs-glance)

## Common misspellings (10)
`galnce`, `gglance`, `glacne`, `glancce`, `glanec`, `glannce`, `glence`, `gllance`, `glnace`, `lgance`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/glance