glimmer

From Middle English glimeren, glemeren (“to glimmer”), equivalent to glim (“to shine”) +‎ -er (frequentative suffix). Cognate with German Low German glimmern (“to glimmer”), German glimmern (“to glimmer”), Danish glimre (“to glimmer”), Swedish glimra (“to glimmer”). Doublet of glimpse.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɡlɪmə(ɹ)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɡlɪmɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪmə(ɹ)

glimmer (countable and uncountable, plural glimmers)

1. A faint light; a dim glow.

   The glimmer of the fireflies was pleasant to watch.

2. A flash of light.
3. A faint or remote possibility (as it were a flash of light).

   Synonym: glimpse

   a glimmer of hope

4. (dated, uncountable) Mica.

• (flash of light): sparkle, shimmer

glimmer (third-person singular simple present glimmers, present participle glimmering, simple past and past participle glimmered)

1. (intransitive) To shine with a faint, unsteady light.

   Synonyms: flicker, glimpse, shimmer, twinkle; see also Thesaurus:glisten

   the glimmering dawn    a glimmering lamp

   The fireflies glimmered in the dark.

   • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:

     The west yet glimmers with some streaks of day.

Borrowed from Danish glimmer, from glimre (“to glimmer”). Cognate with glimrandi (“splendid”), which is also from Danish. False friend with English glimmer.

glimmer n (genitive singular glimmers, no plural)

1. glitter (small decorative shiny particles)
2. (mineralogy) mica

• Kristín Bjarnadóttir, editor (2002–2025), “glimmer”, in Beygingarlýsing íslensks nútímamáls [The Database of Modern Icelandic Inflection] (in Icelandic), Reykjavík: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies

Derived from glimre (“glitter, glisten, sparkle”). Sense 2 is from German Glimmer. Has also undergone influence from English.

glimmer m (definite singular glimmeren, uncountable)

1. (literary and formal) magnificence, glitter, tinsel, something that shines

   Rikdommens glimmer ― The tinsel of wealth

2. mica

   Glimmer er et mineral som lett spaltes i tynne flak.

   Mica is a mineral that easily separates into thin leaves.

• (sense 1) glans, prakt, herlighet
• (sense 2) kråkesølv, mica, mikanitt

• glimmerskifer
• Lys glimmer = white mica (literally: "bright mica")

• “glimmer” in The Ordnett Dictionary
• “glimmer” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Derived from glimre (“glitter, glisten, sparkle”), with influence from English. The definition is from German Glimmer.

glimmer m (definite singular glimmeren, uncountable)

1. mica

   Glimmer er eit mineral som lett spaltast i tynne flak.

   Mica is a mineral that easily separates into thin leaves.

• kråkesølv, mica, mikanitt

• glimmerskifer
• Lys glimmer = white mica (literally: "bright mica")

• “glimmer” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Borrowed from German Glimmer.

glimmer c

1. (mineralogy) mica

Deverbal from glimra.

glimmer n

1. (rare) shine, gloss, sheen, radiance

   Synonyms: glans, skimmer

• glimmer in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• glimmer in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• glimmer in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
• glimra in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)