Word.ws English Dictionary

glitten

Syllables: glit·ten/ˈɡlɪtn̩/

glitten noun: a cross between a glove and a mitten, often in the form of a fingerless glove with an attached mitten-like flap that can be used to cover the fingers.

glitten: a cross between a glove and a mitten, often in the form of a fingerless glove with an attached...
Image: adrigu, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

glitten (plural glittens)

  1. A cross between a glove and a mitten, often in the form of a fingerless glove with an attached mitten-like flap that can be used to cover the fingers.
    • These glittens are perfect for winter walks with a spunky dog. They keep you warm and, hopefully, give you the control you need to let her know who's in charge.2009 April 8, Barbara Hurd, “Dog-walking Glittens”, in Not Now, I'm Knitting: Sweaters, Shawls, Vests, and Other Patterns in Classic and Contemporary Styles, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN...
    • Glittens / Is that a word? It probably is. A combination of both gloves and mittens, glittens claim to have the best of both worlds. But is it possible to find a cute pair? We took to the streets. And by that, we mean we emailed our friends that were known mitten/glove/glitten enthusiasts (it's...2012 January 16, Meghan O'Neill, “Mittens VS Gloves: The Battle Continues”, in The Gloss, archived from the original on 19 Dec 2016

Verb

glitten (third-person singular simple present glittens, present participle glittening, simple past and past participle glittened)

  1. (archaic) to glisten, to reflect, to shimmer.
    • At one of the river landings I passed, there was something white glittening in the moonlight.1880, George Chittenden Benham, A Year of Wreck: A True Story, by a Victim, page 439
    • Oh, yes, there were a hundredfold more beggars and swaggerers among the docks than upon the granite mount, but there was too much diversion to heed the tricks of sharpers in the crush of the myriad craft and the throngs of sailors on duty on the merchantmen, the hordes of poor panting human toilers...1881, Annie S. Wolf, Pictures and Portraits of Foreign Travel, page 224

Examples of glitten in a sentence

  • A combination of both gloves and mittens, glittens claim to have the best of both worlds.2012 January 16, Meghan O'Neill, “Mittens VS Gloves: The Battle Continues”, in The Gloss, archived from the original on 19 Dec 2016:
  • [T]he Glen Ridge Farm Huacaya alpacas who grew the wool from which my glittens were knit.2014, Kelly Kittel, “Acknowledgements”, in Breathe: A Memoir of Motherhood, Grief, and Family Conflict, Berkeley, Calif.: She Writes Press...
  • And then he ponders, in his trance, - On Mary's love-inspiring glance, On Chloe's eye of glittening fire, And Laura's look of fond desire.1865, Derwent Coleridge, The Poems of Winthrop Mackworth Praed, page 13:
  • Eng. *glitten) was replaced by the Scand. glitter.c. 1900, George Tobias Flom, Scandinavian Influence on Southern Lowland Scotch:

Forms of glitten

Noun
pluralglittens
Verb
third-person singular presentglittens
present participleglittening
past participleglittened
pastglittened

Origin of glitten

Blend of glove + mitten.

From Middle English glitenen, from Old English glitnian, perhaps from Proto-Germanic *glitinōną, from a root cognate with Old Norse glitra + Proto-Germanic *-inōną. Ultimately from *ǵʰel- (“to shine, shimmer, glow”). Related to Old English glisnian (“to glisten”), Old English glīdan (“to glide”). Largely displaced by glitter.

Words that rhyme with glitten

2 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about glitten

What does glitten mean?
Glitten means a cross between a glove and a mitten, often in the form of a fingerless glove with an attached mitten-like flap that can be used to cover the fingers.
How do you use glitten in a sentence?
A combination of both gloves and mittens, glittens claim to have the best of both worlds.
What part of speech is glitten?
Glitten can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce glitten?
Glitten is pronounced /ˈɡlɪtn̩/ (UK).
What is the plural of glitten?
The plural of glitten is glittens.

Words near glitten in the dictionary

  1. glitching
  2. glitchless
  3. glitchlessly
  4. glitchy
  5. Glitnir
  6. glitten
  7. glittened
  8. glittening
  9. glittens
  10. glitter
  11. glitter ball

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: glitten (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-glitten.wav.

Cite this entry: “glitten.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/glitten. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.