Etymology 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.
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:
‘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:
2
To reflect light.
3
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.
“[…] 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:
2 more examples
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 can take the heat, baby, best believe That's the moment I shine2023 May 25, Dua Lipa, Caroline Ailin, Andrew Wyatt, Mark Ronson, “Dance the Night”, in Barbie the Album, performed by Dua Lipa:
4
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:
5
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:
6
To be immediately apparent.
7
To create light with (a flashlight, lamp, torch, or similar).
I shone my light into the darkness to see what was making the noise.
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:
8
To cause to shine, as a light or by reflected light.
in hunting, to shine the eyes of a deer at night by throwing a light on them
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:
Etymology 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.
Etymology 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”).
1
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.
2
Ball games, Cricket, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports To polish a cricket ball using saliva and one’s clothing.