twinklingn.1
/ˈtwɪŋklɪŋ/ The action of twinkle v.1
1. The action of shining with tremulous or faint radiance; scintillation; †glimmering. Also transferred and figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > light emitted in particular manner > [noun] > spark or glittering light > sparkling or glittering
glistening1398
sprankling1398
twinkling1398
sprinklinga1400
sparklingc1440
glisteringc1450
glister1535
glittering1567
spangling1576
scintillation1585
sparkle1589
glitter1602
sparking1611
coruscancy1630
emication1646
eruscationa1652
sparklingnessa1691
glitterance1801
glisten1840
spangle1853
sparkliness-
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum xvi. xxxvii. (Bodl.) lf. 174 b/2 In twinkelinge and in liȝt [electrum] schyneþ more clere þan oþer metal.
1477 Norton Ord. Alch. v, in E. Ashmole Theatrum Chem. Brit. (1652) 64 Twinckling and glittering as in Magnetia is.
1556 R. Record Castle of Knowl. 8 Many men do make a difference of them by twinkelinge, affirming that the Fixed starres doo twinkle, and not the Planetes.
1635 J. Swan Speculum Mundi vii. §3. 332 The twinkling of the starres is the vibration or trembling of their light.
1796 J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) I. 36 There is only a dim twinkling of twilight for an hour or two in the middle of the day.
1806 W. Wordsworth Sonn. To Sleep, O gentle Sleep! do they belong to thee, These twinklings of oblivion?
1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering II. 62 These [salmon] the party in the boat detected by the slightest indications; the twinkling of a fin, the rising of an air-bell.
1853 J. F. W. Herschel Pop. Lect. Sci. (1873) vii. §117. 336 The twinkling or scintillation of the stars partakes..of the nature of a phænomenon of diffraction.
1879 S. H. Butcher & A. Lang tr. Homer Odyssey viii. 123 Odysseus gazed at the twinklings of the feet.
2. The action or an act of winking; nictitation; also figurative. Obsolete except as in 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > eye > [noun] > movements of eye > winking or blinking
prinkOE
twinklinga1300
blenching1393
twink14..
blenking?a1505
twinking1519
twinkle1548
connivance1596
winka1616
nictation1623
shailing1653
nictitation1794
blinking1871
blink1924
bat1932
saccade1953
a1300 in Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. (1892) 519/1 Þoruȝ twinklingues of heore eyȝen Heore soules beon alle for lore.
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum xi. xv. (Bodl.) lf. 111 b/2 Liȝtnynge..comeþ oute of his moder as þe twinkelinge of an yȝe.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 505/2 Twynkelynge, of the eye, conniventia.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 283/2 Twynclyng of an eye, cilement, clin doeil.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. xxxii. x. 448 An ague..accompanied with head-ach and much twinkling or inordinat palpitation of the eyes.
1610 Bible (Douay) II. Isa. iii. 16 The daughters of Sion..have walked with stretched out necke, and went with twinglings of eies.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. x. 458 Being euery second or third day attended with the twinckling of an eye, and my sustenance agreeable to my attendance, my body grew exceeding debile and infirme.
1649 Bp. J. Taylor Great Exemplar ii. 122 The first motions,..the twincklings of the eye as the Philosophers call them.
1691 J. Ray Wisdom of God 224 The Eyes in squinting, the Eye-lids in twinkling.
1800 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1837) I. 252 He can extricate himself by the twinkling of an eye if he wishes it.
1822 J. M. Good Study Med. III. 419 Twinkling or winking of the eyes is performed every minute without our thinking of it.
3.
a. The time taken in winking the eye; a very brief period; a moment, an instant. Chiefly in phrases: see 3b – 3d.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > shortness or brevity in time > [noun] > moment or instant
hand-whileOE
prinkOE
start-while?c1225
twinkling1303
rese?c1335
prick1340
momenta1382
pointa1382
minutea1393
instant1398
braida1400
siquarea1400
twink14..
whip?c1450
movement1490
punct1513
pissing whilea1556
trice1579
turning of a hand1579
wink1585
twinklec1592
semiquaver1602
punto1616
punctilio of time1620
punctum1620
breathing1625
instance1631
tantillation1651
rapc1700
crack1725
turning of a straw1755
pig's whisper1780
jiffy1785
less than no time1788
jiff1797
blinka1813
gliffy1820
handclap1822
glimpsea1824
eyewink1836
thought1836
eye-blink1838
semibreve1845
pop1847
two shakes of a lamb's taila1855
pig's whistle1859
time point1867
New York minute1870
tick1879
mo?1896
second1897
styme1897
split-second1912
split minute1931
no-time1942
sec.1956
1303 [see sense 3b].
c1374 G. Chaucer Compl. Mars 222 Her Ioy..Ne lasteth not the twynkelyng of an eye.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms xxix. [xxx.] 5 His wrath endureth but the twincklinge of an eye.
1557 B. Traheron Expos. S. Iohannes Gospel v. sig. Hv He shewed not him selfe the twincklinge of an eye, & so vanished awaie.
1644 K. Digby Two Treat. ii. ix. 421 He scorneth for this litle twinckling of his life, to take any present paines..to auoyde being ill.
1841 E. W. Lane tr. Thousand & One Nights I. ii. 114 I will never quit thee for the twinkling of an eye.
b. in the twinkling of an eye, in an instant; formerly also †in (a), with (a or the) twinkling of an eye. Cf. in the twinkling of a look at look n. Phrases 3a.
ΚΠ
1303 R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne 9179 Yn twynkelyng of an ye, Yn-to þe cherche gun þey flye.
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter lxxii. 19 In þe twinkeling of an eigh þai fal downe.
a1350 Sayings St. Bernard (Harl. 2253) in F. J. Furnivall Minor Poems Vernon MS (1901) ii. 519 In a twynglyng of an eȝe.
a1380 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. (1892) 673 Wiþ a twynklyng of an eiȝe.
1483 W. Caxton tr. Caton E v b In the twynklyng of an eye.
1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) xxviii. 588 The corps..was broughte in to the carte agayne, wyth the twynkeling of an eye.
1508 W. Dunbar Goldyn Targe (Chepman & Myllar) in Poems (1998) I. 191 In twynklyng of ane eye to scip thai went.
1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 27 With twingling [v.r. twinkling] of ane eye anone, God sall the tak.
1598 R. Marbeck in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (new ed.) I. 612 In the very twinckling of an eye, both shippe and men were all cast away.
1792 E. Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 11 This clergy would lose,..in the twinkling of an eye, the little remains of influence which they yet retain.
1847 L. Hunt Men, Women, & Bks. II. iv. 52 A book, a picture, a memory, puts us, in the twinkling of an eye, in the midst of the most enchanting solitudes.
1904 Times 7 Sept. 7/4 Events..transformed Japan..in the twinkling of an eye..into a modern State.
c. in a twinkling (†at a, in the twinkling).
ΚΠ
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis i. 5 At a twinckling thee swelling surges he calmed.
1609 Euerie Woman in her Humor sig. B3 Heere and there in the twinckling.
1612 B. Jonson Alchemist v. v. sig. M3 An old Hargubuzier..Could prime his poulder, and giue fire, and hit, All in a twinckling . View more context for this quotation
1673 J. Dryden Marriage a-la-Mode ii. i. 18 I'll..be with you again in a twinkling.
1769 H. Brooke Fool of Quality IV. xvii. 240 The liquor was out of sight in a twinkling.
1807 Salmagundi 14 Aug. 260 The stoutest line of battle ship..may be..decomposed in a twinkling.
1883 E. Pennell-Elmhirst Cream Leics. 182 In a twinkling the pack is half a field away.
d. With (usually humorous) substitution: see quots.
ΚΠ
1660 Char. Italy 78 In the twinkling of a Bedstaff he disrobed himself..and was just skipping into Bed.
1676 T. Shadwell Virtuoso i. 11 I'll do't instantly, in the twinkling of a Bed-staff.
1681 Heraclitus Ridens 1 Nov. 2/2 This Letter would alone have done it in the twinkling of a Broomstick.
1695 W. Congreve Love for Love ii. i. 23 I have known an Astrologer made a Cuckold in the twinckling of a Star.
a1704 T. Brown Bantering Declam. in Wks. (1707) I. i. 59 All Thessaly had in the twinkling of a Shoeing-horn been certainly undermin'd by Lobsters.
1709 Brit. Apollo 7–12 Oct. I'll do it in the twinkling of a Bedstaff.
1819 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 5 718 He went off in the twinkling of a bed post.
1821 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 9 134 In the twinkling of a fan.
1853 C. Reade Peg Woffington iv. 106 You can..master a play in the twinkling of a tea-cup.
4. attributive.
ΚΠ
a1653 Z. Boyd Zion's Flowers (1855) 68 In a twinkling trice To goe to work.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
twinklingn.2
rare.
A tinkling sound; the production of such a sound.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > resonance or sonority > ringing sound > [noun] > tinkle or ting
twinkling13..
tinglinga1398
tinklinga1398
ting1611
tinkle-tanklinga1625
tinkle-tankle1642
tinniment1656
tinkle1722
tingle1754
sprinkle1843
ting-a-ling?1850
tankling1864
plinkety1891
ting-a-ring1931
13.. K. Alis. 2572 Mury is the twynkelyng [Laud MS. touchyng] of the harpour.
?1578 W. Patten Let. Entertainm. Killingwoorth 85 My wanton warblz, my running, my tyming, my tuning & my twynkling.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
twinklingadj.
/ˈtwɪŋklɪŋ/ That twinkles.† 3. Winking, blinking. Obsolete.
1. Shining tremulously (or †faintly); sparkling, scintillating; †glimmering; flickering (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > light emitted in particular manner > [adjective] > glittering or sparkling
sparkling?c1225
glising1340
glimmeringa1375
glistening1388
glistering1398
glitteringa1400
coruscantc1485
twinkling1508
flankering1577
fire-darting1594
glitterous1596
scintillant1611
winkinga1616
micant1657
scintillating1664
spangling1665
besparklinga1674
skinkling1790
spunky1791
micacious1797
glistery1806
spark-like1814
spangly1818
emicatious1819
sparky1827
aglitter1828
ablaze1851
aglist1858
scintillescent1860
aglisten1867
glittery1880
twinkly1884
sparkly1922
1508 W. Dunbar Goldyn Targe (Chepman & Myllar) in Poems (1998) I. 185 All the lake as lamp did leme of licht, Quhilk schadovit all about wyth twynkling glemis.
1567 R. Sempill in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. 33 Browis brent and twinkland Cristell eine.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) ii. vi. 9 At first I did adore a twinkling Starre. View more context for this quotation
1684 J. Norris Poems & Disc. 22 Some twinkling Stars give feeble light.
1765 J. Beattie Judgment of Paris 30 Till the Morn Spangle with twinkling dew the flowery waste.
1829 W. Scott Anne of Geierstein II. vi. 192 The windows exhibited here and there a twinkling gleam.
a1854 Ld. Cockburn Memorials (1856) iv. 223 A bulky man with..twinkling eyes.
2. transferred. Appearing and disappearing with rapid alternation; producing an effect as of tremulous light by rapid vibratory movement; tremulous, fluttering, quivering. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > vibration > [adjective] > trembling or quivering > with effect of tremulous light
twinkling1616
twinkly1884
1616 J. Smith Descr. New Eng. 29 The twinkling mountaine of Aucociso.
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Odyssey in Iliad & Odyssey II. viii. 324 Ulysses wonder-fixt, The ceaseless play of twinkling feet admired.
1814 R. Southey Roderick xvi. 11 The lark..On twinkling pinions poised.
1816 T. Chalmers Let. in W. Hanna Mem. T. Chalmers (1851) II. 41 We were looking back on the twinkling rapidity of the months and the weeks which have already gone.
1889 Gregory Smith Fra Angelico, etc. (ed. 2) 90 The little twinkling feet which sped so fast and free.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > eye > [adjective] > movements of eye > winking or blinking
winking1555
blinking1568
blink1575
wapper1581
blinked1590
wapper-eyed1604
twinkling1740
nictitant1826
blinky1861
nictitating1899
1740 W. Somervile Hobbinol iii. 201 To point the holy Leer, by just Degrees To close the twingling Eye.
1741 S. Richardson Pamela III. xxxiii. 332 I often endeavoured, by a twinkling Motion, to disperse the gathering Water, before it had formed itself into Drops too big to be restrained.
Compounds
twinkling-eyed, twinkling-footed adjs.
ΚΠ
1871 W. D. Howells Their Wedding Journey (1892) 308 Devotees of the twinkling-footed burlesque..living the life of strolling players.
1904 Daily Chron. 13 July 8/2 A sunburnt, healthy-looking twinkling-eyed scamp of thirteen years.
Derivatives
ˈtwinklingly adv. in a twinkling manner.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > light emitted in particular manner > [adverb] > in a sparkling manner
scintillously1509
twinklingly1561
glisteringly1587
glisteningly1611
glitteringly1611
sparklingly1669
scintillant1737
a-sparkle1840
spark-like1845
scintillatingly1875
aglisten1883
scintillantly1887
aglitter1913
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > vibration > [adverb] > tremblingly > with effect of tremulous light
twinklingly1561
1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. ii. f. 143 They shewed it..twincklingly shining a farre of.
1657 J. Sergeant Schism Dispach't 528 This Authority of the Pope in England twinklingly went out and in again.
1850 Chambers' Edinb. Jrnl. 14 16 The glittering grains..leapt twinklingly.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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n.1a1300
n.213..adj.1508