glean
English · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
glean¹
- /ɡliːn/ UK
- /ɡlin/ US
Rhymes with -iːn
Where it comes from
The verb is derived from Late Middle English glenen (“to gather (heads of grain left by reapers), glean; to gather (things) together, collect”), from Old French glener, glainer (modern French glaner (“to gather, glean”)), from Late Latin glen(n)are, the present active infinitive of glen(n)ō (“to make a collection”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Gaulish, from Proto-Celtic *glanos (“clean; clear”, adjective), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰleh₁- (“to glow, shine; to be glowing or shining”).
The noun is derived from Late Middle English glene (“collection of heads of grain gathered by gleaning; head of grain”), from Old French glene, glane (“act of gleaning; legal right to glean”) (modern French glane (“act of gleaning”)), from glener, glainer (verb): see above.
Cognate with Medieval Latin glana, glena (“bundle of ears of grain”).
verb gleans · gleaning · gleaned · glean
-
To collect (fruit, grain, or other produce) from a field, an orchard, etc., after the main gathering or harvest.
So holy, and ſo perfect is my loue, / And I in ſuch a pouerty of grace, / That I ſhall thinke it a moſt plenteous crop / To gleane the broken eares after the man / That the maine harueſt reapes: […]
Similar: lease
- To gather (something, now chiefly something intangible such as experience or information) in small amounts over a period of time, often with some difficulty; to scrape together. [Ferdinand] Magellan ſoone after ſailes yet more South, and paſſes that Fretum or ſtrait, vvith more reaſon called Magellan, a hundred others haue ſince that gleaned ſeueral additions of Titles and nevv names their diſtributed.
- To take away (someone's) possessions; to strip (someone) bare.
- Of an animal, especially a bat or a bird: to feed by picking up or plucking (prey, mainly arthropods such as insects) from various places. Frigate birds glean a portion of their livelihood from the host of creatures which live at the surface of the ocean: flying-fishes, ctenophores, jelly-fishes, velela, janthina, and in fact anything that may attract their fancy. I even observed one bird aimlessly carrying a splinter of wood, uncertai
- To collect or gather (things) into one mass. Such ſlender arguments be gleaneth together agaynſt vs, ſeeking bye matters. But what ſhould he do? elſe ſhould he haue nought to furniſhe his counterblaſt withall.
- To cut off (straggling soldiers separated from their units) during a conflict; to isolate. And they turned and fled toward the wilderneſſe vnto the rocke of Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the high wayes fiue thouſand men: and purſued hard after them vnto Gidom, and ſlew two thouſand men of them.
- To collect fruit, grain, or other produce after the main gathering or harvest. Put nat your horſes in to the corne felde yet for my folkes haue nat gleaned there yet: […]
- Of an animal, especially a bat or a bird: to feed by picking up or plucking prey, mainly arthropods such as insects, from various places. On migration, it [the Wilson's warbler (Cardellina pusilla)] appears as a sunny flash of gold in roadside shrubs or swamp thickets, refueling on insects gleaned from leaves or caught in midair forays.
noun gleans
- A collection of something made by gleaning. Even the greateſt, in reſpect of God, is but a gleaner. God, he is the Maſter of the Harveſt; all Gifts and Graces they are his, in an infinite meaſure; and every godly man, more or leſſe, gleanes from him. Abraham gleaned a great gleane of Faith; Moſes, of Meekneſſe; […]
glean²
- /ɡliːn/ UK
- /ɡlin/ US
Rhymes with -iːn
Where it comes from
Possibly a variant of clean (“(UK, dialectal; noun) the afterbirth of a cow or sheep; (verb) of a cow or sheep: to bring forth the afterbirth”), possibly from clean (“to remove dirt from an object or place”), referring to an animal’s uterus being cleaned out by the delivery of the afterbirth.
noun gleans
verb gleans · gleaning · gleaned
-
Of an animal, especially a cow or sheep: to deliver its afterbirth or placenta.
To make a Covv glean vvell, and keep her in Health aftervvards.— […] And as it is a Cuſtom vvith ſome to give all their Covvs a cleanſing Drink after Calving, I recommend this to be a good one for that Purpoſe.— […] A fourth is, to boil a Quart of ground Malt in tvvo Quarts of Ale, and give all vvar
Similar: clean
Translations
Every language
verb to collect produce
| Español | espigar, pepenar |
|---|---|
| Português | catar, respigar |
| Français | glaner |
| Deutsch | nachlesen, schnorren |
| Italiano | racimolare, spigolare |
| Русский | подбира́ть podbirátʹ, подобра́ть podobrátʹ, собира́ть sobirátʹ, собра́ть sobrátʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | mót |
verb figurative: to gather
| Español | averiguar, cosechar, entresacar, espigar, recoger |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 모으다 mo'euda |
| Português | coletar, recolher |
| Français | glaner |
| Deutsch | herausbekommen, zusammentragen |
| Italiano | raccattare, raccogliere, racimolare |
| Русский | собира́ть sobirátʹ, собра́ть sobrátʹ |
Talk about this word "glean." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/glean. Accessed 5 Nov. 2026. glean. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/glean "glean." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 5, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/glean.Cite this
@misc{glean_2026,
title = {glean},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/glean},
urldate = {2026-11-05}
}
