Glent
/ɡlɛnt/noun
A brief glimpse or flash, especially in Scots and Northern English; it is also an archaic past form of “glint.”
Did you know?In Scots usage, a glent could mean a fleeting glimpse, giving the word an almost divinatory quality: a momentary sight of something normally concealed.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic period
Germanic
*glintaną
“A reconstructed Germanic form associated with shining or glittering; the exact ancestry is debated.”
Old Norse
Old Norse
glinta
“To glitter or shine; a likely Scandinavian relative of the later English forms.”
Middle English
Middle English
glenten
“To shine, glitter, or flash; the source of later forms related to “glint.””
15th–16th Century
Scots
glent
“A glimpse, flash, or brief appearance; also used as a verb meaning to glance or flash.”
Modern English
English
glent
“A chiefly dialectal or Scots word for a glimpse or flash, and an archaic form of “glint.””