Squint
/skwɪnt/noun
To look with partly closed eyes or at an angle; also, to be askew or not perfectly straight.
Did you know?The word’s older sense is tied to looking sideways or obliquely, and its deeper ancestry is connected to the idea of something bent or twisted rather than straight.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*skeu-
“to bend, turn, or cover”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*skuntaz / *skwent-
“crooked, oblique, or turned aside”
Middle English
English
squinten
“to look sideways or with a sidelong glance”
15th Century
English
squint
“oblique; turned askew, especially of the eyes or gaze”
Modern English
English
squint
“to partly close the eyes or look with a sideways gaze”