glean
/ɡlin/verb, noun
glean is spelled G-L-E-A-N: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 40,267th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, glean means “To collect (fruit, grain, or other produce) from a field, an orchard, etc., after the main gathering or harvest” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in glean?
| Letters | 5: G-L-E-A-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 40,267th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is glean?
Glean appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 40,267th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce glean?
- UK /ɡliːn/
- US /ɡlin/
Glean has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-glean.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with glean?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as glean from its last stressed vowel (/in/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: angel, angle, genal, lenga.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of glean
- gleans present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- gleaning participle, present
- gleaned participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does glean mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To collect (fruit, grain, or other produce) from a field, an orchard, etc., after the main gathering or harvest.
- 2
To gather (something, now chiefly something intangible such as experience or information) in small amounts over a period of time, often with some difficulty; to scrape together.
- 3
To take away (someone's) possessions; to strip (someone) bare.
- 4
Of an animal, especially a bat or a bird: to feed by picking up or plucking (prey, mainly arthropods such as insects) from various places.
- 5
obsoleteTo collect or gather (things) into one mass.
- 6
obsoleteTo cut off (straggling soldiers separated from their units) during a conflict; to isolate.
- 7
To collect fruit, grain, or other produce after the main gathering or harvest.
- 8
Of an animal, especially a bat or a bird: to feed by picking up or plucking prey, mainly arthropods such as insects, from various places.
- 9
obsoleteOf an animal, especially a cow or sheep: to deliver its afterbirth or placenta.
noun
- 1
A collection of something made by gleaning.
- 2
obsoleteThe afterbirth or placenta of an animal, especially a cow or sheep.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Glean in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | glaner |
| German | nachlesen, schnorren , herausbekommen, zusammentragen |
| Portuguese | catar, respigar , coletar, recolher |
| Spanish | espigar, pepenar , averiguar, cosechar, entresacar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does glean come from?
The verb is derived from Late Middle English glenen (“to gather (heads of grain left by reapers), glean; to gather (things) together, collect”), from Old French glener, glainer (modern French glaner (“to gather, glean”)), from Late Latin glen(n)are, the present active infinitive of glen(n)ō (“to make a collection”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Gaulish, from Proto-Celtic *glanos (“clean; clear”, adjective), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰleh₁- (“to glow, shine; to be glowing or shining”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).