Glime

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. To move or cause to move smoothly with a gliding or sliding motion; to shine or reflect light briefly and intermittently; to handle or perform an action with graceful ease
2. To travel or shift with a continuous, effortless flow; to emit a quick, flickering gleam of brightness; to execute a task or activity with fluid and elegant movements
3. To proceed or be shifted lightly and seamlessly in a gliding fashion; to give off a sudden small flash or sparkle; to carry out an act or duty with smoothness and finesse

Etymology: Its family tree runs back to light. It probably descends from a Proto-Germanic root, *glīmô, whose relatives include Middle English "glimme" (radiance), Scots "glim" (a glance or glimpse), and Norwegian Nynorsk "glim" (a glimpse or glimmer). The same family includes "gleam", "glimmer" and "glimpse", so the link to shining is clear even though the exact path from that root is uncertain. The sense of smooth gliding is the surprising part. Nothing in the surviving sources explains how a word for brightness came to describe motion across a surface. What the record does show is that the noun was formed from the verb, so the action is the base, and the noun names the gliding itself.