# glint

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɡlɪnt/ · frequency rank #44,227

## Definitions
1. A short flash of light, usually when reflected off a shiny surface.
2. A brief look; a glance.

## Etymology
15th century. Borrowed from Scots glint, from Middle English glenten (“to shine, gleam; flash”), probably from Old Norse *glenta, from Proto-Germanic *glantijaną, causitive of Proto-Germanic *glintaną (“to gleam, shine”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰley- (“to shine”). Cognate with Danish glente, Swedish glänta, Norwegian Nynorsk gletta (“to peep, look”), Middle High German glinzen; compare also Swedish glinta (“to slip, slide, gleam, shine”), Swedish glimt (“flash, glint, glimpse”), Norwegian Nynorsk glanta, gletta (“to glide, slip”). Reintroduced into literary English by Robert Burns.

## Easily confused with
- **goin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glint-vs-goin)
- **grin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glint-vs-grin)
- **grit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glint-vs-grit)
- **glut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glint-vs-glut)
- **glyn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glint-vs-glyn)
- **going** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glint-vs-going)
- **grant** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glint-vs-grant)
- **guilt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glint-vs-guilt)
- **grind** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glint-vs-grind)
- **grunt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glint-vs-grunt)
- **Gwent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glint-vs-gwent)
- **grins** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glint-vs-grins)
- **Glynn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glint-vs-glynn)
- **grist** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glint-vs-grist)
- **glitz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glint-vs-glitz)
- **gloat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glint-vs-gloat)
- **gin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gin-vs-glint)
- **git** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/git-vs-glint)
- **gain** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gain-vs-glint)
- **gift** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gift-vs-glint)

## Common misspellings (8)
`gglint`, `gilnt`, `glinnt`, `glintt`, `glitn`, `gllint`, `glnit`, `lgint`

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