Wendy — Odd-looking Blink — THE SHINING

blink (v.) 1580s, “nictitate, wink rapidly and repeatedly,“ perhaps from Middle Dutch blinken “to glitter,“ which is of uncertain origin, possibly, along with German blinken “to gleam, sparkle, twinkle,“ from a nasalized form of base found in Old English blican “to shine, glitter“ (from PIE root *bhel- (1) “to shine, flash, burn“). Middle English had blynke (c. 1300) in the sense “a brief gleam or spark,“ perhaps a variant of blench “to move suddenly or sharply; to raise one’s eyelids“ (c. 1200), perhaps from the rare Old English blencan “deceive.“ The word existed originally with a vague and shifting set of meanings, many now obsolete, having to do with motion of the eyes; in earlier use “the notion of ’glancing’ predominates; in the latter, that of ’winking’“ [OED]. Blink as “to wink“ is attested by 1761. The meaning “cast a sudden, fleeting light“ is from