twinkle

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To shine with a flickering, unsteady light; to glimmer.

   We could see the lights of the village twinkling in the distance.

2. 2
   noun

   A small sparkle or flicker of light.

   The first star appeared as a tiny twinkle in the evening sky.

3. 3
   noun

   A look of brightness or delight in someone's eyes.

   He was a jolly man with a twinkle in his eye.

Simplified etymology

Twinkle is an Old English word whose original sense was “sparkle” or “glimmer.” From the 14th century it could also mean “wink” or “blink,” and this produced the sense of an extremely brief moment preserved in “the twinkling of an eye.”

From Middle English twinclen, twynclen, from Old English twinclian (“to twinkle”), equivalent to twink (“to wink; blink; twinkle”) + -le (frequentative suffix). Compare German zwinkern (“to wink; twinkle”).

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary