Glented

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Archaic past tense of a verb meaning to glance or flash briefly, as light striking a surface for a moment
2. Once used to describe something that darted past or caught the eye with a quick, brief flash
3. An old form meaning that something moved swiftly across the view or shone with a sudden, fleeting gleam

Etymology: "Glented" is the past tense and past participle of "glent," an archaic English verb meaning to glance or flash quickly. The verb is a Middle English word, and its past forms follow the same pattern as other weak verbs of its period, so "glented" is the form a writer would have used for a glance or flash that had already happened. The word belongs to a small family of English verbs describing sudden brightness or sideways movement, and its history is closely tied to "glint" and "glance," which are related in sound and sense. Speakers of later English kept "glint" for a flash of light, while "glent" faded from everyday use and now survives mainly in older literature and dialect.