From Middle English shinen, schinen (preterite schon, past participle schinen), from Old English sċīnan (“to shine, flash; be resplendent”; preterite sċān, past participle sċinen), from Proto-West Germanic *skīnan (“to shine”), from Proto-Germanic *skīnaną (“to shine”).
Cognate with Dutch schijnen, German scheinen, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål skinne, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish skina, Faroese and Icelandic skína.
Meanings
(countable, uncountable) Brightness from a source of light.
the distant shine of the celestial city 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:
(countable, uncountable) Brightness from reflected light.
(countable, uncountable) Excellence in quality or appearance; splendour.
(countable, uncountable) Shoeshine.
Take a shine. You need it. 1980, Paul Schrader, American Gigolo, spoken by Julian Kaye (Richard Gere):
(countable, uncountable) Sunshine (typically in contrast with rain).
be fair or foul, or rain or shine 1685, John Dryden, Sylvae:
(countable, slang, uncountable) Moonshine; an illicitly brewed alcoholic drink.
(countable, derogatory, ethnic, offensive, slang, slur, uncountable) A black person.
"If you want your black head blown off, shine, you just make a move to stop us." 1970, Wally Feris, Across 110th, page 152:
(countable, uncountable) The amount of shininess on a cricket ball, or on each side of the ball.
(countable, slang, uncountable) A liking for a person; a fancy.
She's certainly taken a shine to you.
(archaic, countable, slang, uncountable) A caper; an antic; a row.
ka ბრჭყვინვა (brightness from a source of light) · ka ბრწყინვა (brightness from a source of light) · uk сві́тло (brightness from a source of light) · ta வெளிச்சம் (brightness from reflected light) · de Schein (brightness from a source of light) · he בָּרָק (brightness from reflected light) · da skin (brightness from a source of light) · fi loiste (brightness from reflected light) · ro lustru (brightness from reflected light) · eo poluro (brightness from reflected light) · ro luciu (brightness from reflected light) · hi रोशनी (brightness from a source of light) · fi kirkkaus (brightness from a source of light) · uk ся́йво (brightness from reflected light) · hy փայլ (brightness from a source of light) · ro strălucire (brightness from a source of light) · fi loisteliaisuus (excellence in quality or appearance) · ka კაშკაში (brightness from a source of light) · pt esplendor (excellence in quality or appearance) · pt brilho (brightness from a source of light) · izh äky (brightness from a source of light) · pt brilho (brightness from reflected light) · ast brillu (brightness from a source of light) · de Glanz (brightness from reflected light) · ka ბრწყინვალება (brightness from a source of light) · ru сия́ние (brightness from reflected light) · es brillo (brightness from reflected light) · fi loistokkuus (excellence in quality or appearance) · ca lluïssor (brightness from a source of light) · ja 輝き (brightness from reflected light) · sv finish (excellence in quality or appearance) · da glans (brightness from reflected light) · fi hohde (brightness from a source of light) · ru блеск (excellence in quality or appearance) · ru сия́ние (brightness from a source of light) · bg блясък (excellence in quality or appearance) · sv glans (brightness from reflected light) · ja 輝き (brightness from a source of light) · fi loiste (brightness from a source of light) · nl glans (brightness from reflected light) · ta வெளிச்சம் (brightness from a source of light) · pl blask (brightness from a source of light) · ka ნათება (brightness from a source of light) · es brillo (brightness from a source of light) · fr éclat (brightness from a source of light) · fi loistavuus (excellence in quality or appearance) · ka სინათლე (brightness from a source of light) · de Bravour (excellence in quality or appearance) · ckb ڕۆشنایی (brightness from a source of light) · uk блиск (excellence in quality or appearance) · gl brillantez (brightness from a source of light) · gl brillo (brightness from a source of light) · fi valo (brightness from reflected light) · ckb بریقە (brightness from reflected light) · te మెరుపు (brightness from reflected light) · sv sken (brightness from a source of light) · nl schijn (brightness from a source of light) · uk блиск (brightness from reflected light) · sv polish (excellence in quality or appearance) · bg блясък (brightness from reflected light) · gl brillantez (brightness from reflected light) · fi hohde (brightness from reflected light) · hy փայլ (excellence in quality or appearance) · de Brillanz (excellence in quality or appearance) · pl blask (excellence in quality or appearance) · ta ஒளி (brightness from a source of light) · ru свет (brightness from a source of light) · nl straling (brightness from a source of light) · ca brillantor (brightness from a source of light) · ka ჩახჩახი (brightness from a source of light) · gl brillo (brightness from reflected light) · pdt Schien (brightness from reflected light) · ja 卓越 (excellence in quality or appearance) · nl uitmuntendheid (excellence in quality or appearance) · de Glanz (excellence in quality or appearance) · ml തിളക്കം (brightness from reflected light) · ka ელვარება (brightness from a source of light) · nl bravoure (excellence in quality or appearance) · te ప్రకాశము (brightness from a source of light) · da brillans (excellence in quality or appearance) · fi paiste (brightness from a source of light) · hy փայլ (brightness from reflected light) · fi loisto (excellence in quality or appearance) · ca lluentor (brightness from a source of light) · izh lens (brightness from a source of light) · bg сияние (brightness from a source of light) · ja 光 (brightness from a source of light) · ml തിളക്കം (brightness from a source of light) · bg светлина (brightness from a source of light) · hi प्रकाश (brightness from a source of light) · ru блеск (brightness from reflected light) · pl blask (brightness from reflected light)
From Middle English shinen, schinen (preterite schon, past participle schinen), from Old English sċīnan (“to shine, flash; be resplendent”; preterite sċān, past participle sċinen), from Proto-West Germanic *skīnan (“to shine”), from Proto-Germanic *skīnaną (“to shine”).
Cognate with Dutch schijnen, German scheinen, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål skinne, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish skina, Faroese and Icelandic skína.
Meanings
(copulative, intransitive) To emit or reflect light so as to glow.
‘No. I only opened the door a foot and put my head in. The street lamps shine into that room. I could see him. He was all right. Sleeping like a great grampus. Poor, poor chap.’ 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 20, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
The water shone pacifically; the sky, without a speck, was a benign immensity of unstained light; the very mist on the Essex marshes was like a gauzy and radiant fabric, hung from the wooded rises inland, and draping the low shores in diaphanous folds. 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 194:
(copulative, intransitive) To reflect light.
(copulative, intransitive) To distinguish oneself; to excel.
My nephew tried other sports before deciding on football, which he shone at right away, quickly becoming the star of his school team.
It prompted an exchange of substitutions as Jermain Defoe replaced Palacios and Javier Hernandez came on for Berbatov, who had failed to shine against his former club. 2011 January 15, Phil McNulty, “Tottenham 0 - 0 Man Utd”, in BBC:
“[…] I was grateful to you for giving him a year’s schooling—where he shined at it—and for putting him as a clerk in your counting-house, where he shined still more.” 1867, Frederick William Robinson, No Man's Friend, Harper & Brothers, page 91:
I can take the heat, baby, best believe
That's the moment I shine 2023 May 25, Dua Lipa, Caroline Ailin, Andrew Wyatt, Mark Ronson, “Dance the Night”, in Barbie the Album, performed by Dua Lipa:
(copulative, intransitive) To be effulgent in splendour or beauty.
So proud she shyned in her Princely state. 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 10:
Once brightest shined this child of heat and air. 1728, [Alexander Pope], “(please specify the page)”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. […], Dublin; London: […] A. Dodd, →OCLC:
(copulative, intransitive) To be eminent, conspicuous, or distinguished; to exhibit brilliant intellectual powers.
Few are qualified to shine in company; but it in most men's power to be agreeable. c. 1713, Jonathan Swift, Thoughts on Various Subjects:
(copulative, intransitive) To be immediately apparent.
(transitive) To create light with (a flashlight, lamp, torch, or similar).
As Jenks shined the large spotlight on the water, he saw a few bubbles and four long wakes leading away from an expanding circle of blood. 2007, David Lynn Goleman, Legend: An Event Group Thriller, St. Martin’s Press, published 2008, →ISBN, page 318:
I shone my light into the darkness to see what was making the noise.
(transitive) To cause to shine, as a light or by reflected light.
He [God] doth not rain wealth, nor shine honour and virtues, upon men equally. 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:
in hunting, to shine the eyes of a deer at night by throwing a light on them
From the noun shine, or perhaps continuing Middle English schinen in its causative uses, from Old English scīn (“brightness, shine”), and also Middle English schenen, from Old English scǣnan (“to render brilliant, make shine”), from Proto-Germanic *skainijaną, causative of *skīnaną (“to shine”).
Meanings
(transitive) To cause (something) to be smooth and shiny by rubbing; put a shine on (something); polish (something).
He shined my shoes until they were polished smooth and gleaming.
(transitive) To polish a cricket ball using saliva and one’s clothing.