# shine

> English word · Verb · IPA /ʃaɪn/ · frequency rank #5,452

## Definitions
1. To emit or reflect light so as to glow.
2. To reflect light.
3. To distinguish oneself; to excel.
4. To be effulgent in splendour or beauty.
5. To be eminent, conspicuous, or distinguished; to exhibit brilliant intellectual powers.
6. To be immediately apparent.
7. To create light with (a flashlight, lamp, torch, or similar).
8. To cause to shine, as a light or by reflected light.

## Etymology
From Middle English shinen, schinen (preterite schon, past participle schinen), from Old English sċīnan (“to shine, flash; be resplendent”; preterite sċān, past participle sċinen), from Proto-West Germanic *skīnan (“to shine”), from Proto-Germanic *skīnaną (“to shine”).

## Easily confused with
- **sin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shine-vs-sin)
- **sie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shine-vs-sie)
- **side** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shine-vs-side)
- **shit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shine-vs-shit)
- **site** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shine-vs-site)
- **size** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shine-vs-size)
- **ship** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shine-vs-ship)
- **skin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shine-vs-skin)
- **sing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shine-vs-sing)
- **spin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shine-vs-spin)
- **shoe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shine-vs-shoe)
- **sink** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shine-vs-sink)
- **sins** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shine-vs-sins)
- **sire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shine-vs-sire)
- **shun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shine-vs-shun)
- **sine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shine-vs-sine)
- **shiv** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shine-vs-shiv)
- **Sina** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shine-vs-sina)
- **sone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shine-vs-sone)
- **since** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shine-vs-since)

## Common misspellings (7)
`hsine`, `shhine`, `shien`, `shinne`, `shnie`, `sihne`, `sshine`

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