▪ I. sheen, n.1
(ʃiːn)
Forms: 6 Sc. scheyne, 6–7 sheene, 7– sheen.
[f. sheen a., assumed to be connected with shine v. (The n. is virtually a verbal noun to shine.) Cf. sheen v.]
1. a. Shining, brightness. In recent use chiefly, gleaming, lustre, radiance as of a body reflecting light; a gleam. rare before the 19th c.
| 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 167 And thirtie dozen Moones with borrowed sheene, About the World haue times twelue thirties been. 1614 Gorges Lucan vi. 240 And modest Cynthias siluer hue Vnto a pallid colour grew... As if the earth had bene betweene To barre her of her brothers sheene. 1629 Milton Hymn Nativ. xv, Thron'd in Celestiall sheen. 1634 ― Comus 893 The azurn sheen Of Turkis blew. Ibid. 1003 Far above in spangled sheen Celestial Cupid her fam'd son advanc't. 1768 Beattie Minstr. i. xxii, The southern Sun diffus'd his dazzling shene. 1798 Coleridge Anc. Mar. i. xiv, And through the drifts the snowy clifts Did send a dismal sheen. 1815 Byron Destr. Sennacherib i, The sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea. 1830 Tennyson Song, ‘The Lintwhite’ 28 Thy locks are all of sunny sheen. 1881 J. Hatton New Ceylon ii. 51 [A pearl] of a peculiarly brilliant sheen. 1879 Black Macleod of D. I. 178 The beautiful blue sheen on its scales. 1888 A. S. Swan Doris Cheyne ii. 30 Her hair..had a sheen like gold upon it. 1906 Williamson Lady Betty across Water 288 The green of the waving trees seemed to be reflected in their complexions in little sheens and shimmers. |
b. transf. and fig.
| 1828 Coleridge Gard. Boccaccio 47 And last, a matron now, of sober mien Yet radiant still and with no earthly sheen. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. iii. iii, Ever in the dullest existence there is a sheen either of Inspiration or of Madness. 1863 W. Phillips Sp. vi. 114 No sheen of official position would ever lead us. |
c. Gorgeous or bright attire.
| [1631 Milton Epit. Marchioness Winchester 73 With thee there clad in radiant sheen, No Marchioness, but now a Queen.] 1802 Mrs. Radcliffe Gaston de Blondeville Posth. Wks. (1826) II. 348 They saw plainly enough knights, esquires and pages..in all their splendour; and lady-aunts and lady-cousins in the galleries, in all their sheen and joyance. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. i. lxxiv, In costly sheen and gaudy cloak array'd. 1898 H. Newbolt Isl. Race 94 Stepped she not with a grace entrancing, Slenderly girt in silken sheen? |
2. The pupil of the eye. Sc. (? Obs.)
| c 1500 Kennedy Passion of Christ 581 For as I writtin into Doctouris fand. He wes mair tender [into] his body, Than is þe scheyne into a mannis e. 1808 Jamieson, Sheen of the eye, the pupil of the eye. |
3. A very thin film or slick of oil (esp. on water).
| 1970 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 29 Apr. 1/1 Investigators reported four light sheens—the term being used instead of [oil] slicks because the material appears to be spread quite lightly on the water—were sighted from aircraft. 1978 Daily Tel. 28 Mar. 1/4 There was ‘an extremely thin sheen of oil six to seven miles off Jersey’ which was of no danger to marine life or holidaymakers. |
▪ II. sheen, n.2 slang.
(ʃiːn)
[Of obscure origin: cf. shan.]
Base coin. Also attrib. or adj.
| 1839 H. Brandon in W. A. Miles Poverty, Mendicity & Crime 165/1 Sheen, bad money. 1864 Hotten's Slang Dict. 226 Sheen, bad money. 1888 Payne Eavesdropper ii. ii. 80 ‘Can you smash a thick un for me?’ inquired one, handing his friend a sovereign. ‘You're sure it ain't sheen?’ returned the other, with a diabolical grin. 1890 Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang, Sheen (Scotch), bad money. Probably alluding to the ‘glitter’, or possibly from German schein, a bank-bill. |
▪ III. sheen, n.3 U.S. slang.
(ʃiːn)
[Prob. abbrev. of machine n. 1 e.]
A car; an automobile.
| 1968–70 Current Slang (Univ. S. Dakota) III–IV. 107 Sheen, car. 1975 Amer. Speech 1972 XLVII. 153 Hey, look down the street pas' that sheen double-parked. 1980 in S. Terkel Amer. Dreams 125 My friends are always talkin' about havin' a nice sheen. That's a nice car or van, something set up real nice on the inside. |
▪ IV. sheen, a. Now poet.
(ʃiːn)
Forms: 1 sc{iacu}ene, scéne, scéone, sc{iacu}one, sc{yacu}ne, sc{iacu}ne, 2–4 seene, 3 sceone, sschene, 3–4 scen, (? schine), 3–6 schene, 3–6, (8–9) shene, 4 schen, (sene), 5 schenne, sshene, 6 shen, 4–7 sheene, 5 scheene; 3 scone, Sc. 4–6 scheyne, 5 sheyn, 6 schein(e, schane; 6– sheen. compar. 1 scénra, 3 schenre, schennure, 4 schenure.
[OE. sc{iacu}ene = OFris. skêne (mod.Fris. skjin), OS. scôni (MLG. schône, schôn; Sw. skön, Da. skj{obar}n, prob. from LG.), MDu. schôn(e (mod.Du. schoon), OHG. scôni, earlier scaoni (MHG. schœne, schœn, mod.G. schön), Goth. skaun-s:—OTeut. *skauni-, *skaunjo- f. root *skau- to behold: see show v.
The Gothic ibnaskauns like-formed, guþaskaunei likeness of God, suggest that the word may originally have meant ‘having (a certain) appearance’. For the development of the eulogistic sense, cf. sightly, shapely, L. forma form, beauty, formosus beautiful.
In English (and app. to some extent in OHG. and OS. where it glosses lucidus, splendidus, etc.) the sense was influenced by association with the root of shine v. In early examples it is often difficult to determine whether the sense is merely ‘beautiful’, or whether there is some added notion of ‘shining, bright’.
The form scone in Ormin, which implies the pronunciation (ˈskoːnə), is unexplained. The identically written form in Layamon, however, seems to be merely an instance of the practice, common in 12–13th c. texts, of writing o for eo.]
1. Beautiful. a. Of persons (esp. women), their appearance, features, etc.
| Beowulf 3017 Mæᵹð scyne. a 900 Cynewulf Crist 1387 Ic ðe swa scienne ᵹesceapen hæfde. c 1000 Genesis 265 Cwæð, þæt his lic wære leohte & scene. c 1200 Vices & Virtues 95 Nis ðar non swo god leiȝe se teares: hie makieð scene ansiene. c 1205 Lay. 15331, & he haueð to quene mine dohter þa is scone. a 1225 Ancr. R. 398 And Absalones schene wlite. a 1300 Cursor M. 24080 His face þat forwit was sa scene [v. rr. schen, shene]. Ibid. 28505 Gernand i haf oft ben Desird o þire wymmen scen. c 1300 Sir Orfeo 356 Al þe utmast wal Was clere and schine [v. rr. schone, gan schyne] as cristal. c 1350 Will. Palerne 3296 So schene he was to se in his semli armes. c 1374 Chaucer H. Fame iii. 446 Graunte vs, lady shene Eche of vs, of thy grace a bone. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3070 Shulders full shaply, shenest of hewe, Full plesaund & playn. a 1450 Le Morte Arth. 2612 The mayde was full shene to shewe. a 1536 Songs, Carols, etc. (1907) 10 Hayle be thou Mary, maydyn shen. a 1586 ? Montgomerie Banks of Helicon 6 Declair, ȝe bankis of Helicon,..Gif ony of ȝour Muses all, Or nymphes may be peregall Vnto my lady schein? 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 43, I saw a little one, A bonny prety one, As bright buxsome and as sheene As was shee. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. i. 10 Her daintie corse so faire and sheene. 1747 Mason Musæus 104 Belinda far surpast my beauties sheen. |
† b. (the) sheen: used after a woman's name.
| c 1205 Lay. 3098 Þe duc of Cornwaile scal habbe Gornoille & þe Scottene king Regau þat scone [c 1275 þe scene]. c 1320 Sir Tristr. 756 Slawe was rouland þan And ded blaunche þe schene. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 210 The fresshe Emelye the sheene. |
c. Of animals, inanimate objects, places, etc.
| c 1000 Phœnix 591 Him folᵹiað fuᵹlas scyne. c 1000 Panther 19 (Gr.) Deor wundrum scyne. c 1205 Lay. 19767 Vt heo droȝen sone amppullen scone [c 1275 six ampulles] ifulled mid attere weten alre bitterest. 12.. Moral Ode 340 (Egerton MS.) in Lamb. Hom. 179 Go we þene narewe wei and þene wei grene þer forð-fareð lutel folc ac it is feir and scene. c 1275 Ibid. 337 (Jesus MS.) in O.E. Misc. 70 Go we þene narewe wey þen wey so schene. 13.. Gosp. Nicod. 125 (Cott. Galba MS.) Þaire armes set on schaftes schene [Harl. MS. sene]. c 1350 Will. Palerne 3411 Many a schene scheld scheuered al to peces. a 1352 Minot Poems (ed. Hall) xi. 2 In schawes ful schene. c 1400 Sowdone Bab. 118 Carrikes, Galeis and shippes shene, vij hundred were gadered al in fere. c 1400 Rom. Rose 3713 By hir atyre so bright and shene, Men might perceyve..She was not of religioun. c 1400 Destr. Troy 330 With shotes of shire wode shene to beholde. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. xcv, His long[e] ȝalow lokkis schene. c 1435 Torr. Portugal 487 Abowght a facon schene. c 1470 Henry Wallace iv. 370 Thar I was born amang the schawis scheyne. c 1470 Harding Chron. ccxlii. App. xxx. iv, Four and twentie myles to Lamarke so shene. 1513 Douglas æneis i. vii. 63 Rowmyng about the large temple schene. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 17 Amang fair forrests and schawis schene. 1785 Burns Vision i. 67 Down flow'd her robe, a tartan sheen, Till half a leg was scrimply seen. 1873 Symonds Grk. Poets xi. 374 Narcissus will I twine, and lilies sheen. |
† d. absol. (quasi-n.) A fair one; a beautiful woman. Obs.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 965 Þat schene sayde, þat god wyl schylde, ‘Þou may not enter with-inne hys tor’. c 1400 Destr. Troy 8144 Than the bysshop to his barne barely onswart, And shend to þat schene all in short wordes. c 1420 Avow. Arth. xl, Thay so a schene vndur schild, Come prekand fast aure the filde, On a fayre stede. 1540 Palsgr. Acolastus iii. v. R iij, A kisse, my lyght .i. my hart of golde, or my bryght and sheene, this is sweter then honye. a 1568 Bannatyne MS. (Hunter. Club) 627 Beseik that schene with hummill reuerence The to ressaif. |
† e. In non-material senses: Beautiful, attractive; noble, illustrious; pure, clean (from sin). Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 24326 To þan..þer com þe king Angel king of Scotlonde mid sceone his folke. a 1300 Cursor M. 18535 Þis hight [i.e. promise] þat was sa scene [v. rr. shene, schene], Suld tid þam thoru a maiden clene. c 1400 Destr. Troy 600, I will shunt for no shame of my shene fader, Ne no hede to my heale, þat I thee helpe shall. c 1430 Hymns Virg. (1867) 18 Þi passioun make us briȝt & schene In wil, in worde, in dede & þouȝt! 1460 in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 254 Fro seuene synnes þou make me schene. |
2. Bright, shining, resplendent.
In early use this sense may have been merely contextual, the adj. being applied in the sense ‘beautiful’ to objects (e.g. heavenly bodies, jewels, metals) the beauty of which is dependent on their brightness. In later use, owing to association with shine v., sheen n.1, the sense ‘shining’ is felt as primary.
| 900 Cynewulf Crist 695 Hwæt sindan þa ᵹimmas swa scyne buton god sylfa? c 1200 Ormin 3431 He sette a steorrne upp o þe lifft Full brad, & brihht, & shene. a 1225 Ancr. R. 362 In þe ariste of domesdeie, hwon ure vlesches schal blikien schenre þen þe sunne. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 1145, I loked among his meyny schene. ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 1512 He thoughte of thilke water schene To drinke and fresshe him wel withalle. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 409 ‘After sharpe showres’, quod pees ‘moste shene is þe sonne’. c 1402 Lydg. Compl. Bl. Knt. 3 In May, whan..Phebus gan to schede his stremes shene Amid the Bole. 1412–20 ― Troy Bk. i. 623 Þe schene sonne. 1513 Douglas æneis xii. iv. 40 O thou brycht son, with thy schene bemis glaid. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) I. 105 And cled thame all..In silk and syper, and in siluer schene. a 1542 Wyatt Compl. Absence His Love 39 in Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 74 Those shene lightes: that wonted for to clere My darked panges of cloudy thoughts. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 28 By fountaine cleere, or spangled star light sheene. 1591 Spenser M. Hubberd 1066 That he might be seene Of the wilde beasts in his new glory sheene. 1591 R. W[ilmot] Tancred & Gism. iii. iii. (1592) D 3, But why doth he that sprung from Ioues high head? And Phœbus sister shene, despise thy power? 1607 T. Walkington Optic Glass 147 To see the Sunne and Moone..in their sheene glory. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. iii. vi, Like rubies sheen. 1748 Thomson Cast. Indol. i. iii, Glittering Streamlets..hurled every-where their Waters sheen. 1798 Coleridge Anc. Mar. v. vi, The upper air burst into life! And a hundred fire-flags sheen, To and fro they were hurried about. 1808 Scott Marm. v. viii, His vest of changeful satin sheen. 1817 Shelley Marianne's Dr. 10 The veiny lids, whose fringe is thrown Over thine eyes so dark and sheen. 1838 Barham Ingol. Leg., Witches' Frolic, And fairer, I ween, The ivy sheen That thy mouldering turret binds, Than the Alderman's house. 1839 Longfellow Voices of Night, Prelude i. 5 Where, the long drooping boughs between Shadows dark and sunlight sheen Alternate come and go. |
b. Of a day, the sky, etc.
| 1503 Hawes Examp. Virt. xiv. 296 A daye of gladnes bryght and shene. a 1510 Douglas K. Hart i. 95 Quhilk hes na craft to knaw the wynter weit, Suppois that sommer schane dois thame reskew. 1577–87 Holinshed Hist. Eng. ii. ii. 8/2 Thou that maist passe aloft in airie skies so sheene. 1599 Warn. Faire Wom. ii. 341 It is my love. O how the dusky night Is by her coming forth made sheen and bright! 1714 Gay Sheph. Week, Monday 3 No chirping lark the welkin sheen invokes. 1839 Mrs. Browning Rom. Page xxx, ‘Look up—there is a small bright cloud..’ The page looked up—the cloud was sheen. 1891 F. Thompson Sister-Songs (1895) 16 There she sat amid her ladies, Where the shade is Sheen as Enna mead ere Hades' Gloom fell thwart Persephone. |
† c. Bright-coloured. Obs.
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2314 Þe schene blod ouer his schulderes schot to þe erþe. 1603 Florio Montaigne ii. xxxiv. 425 Iulius Cæsar..In his Warres..was accustomed to weare a verie rich garment and of a sheene and garish colour. 1810 Scott Lady of L. iv. xii, If pall and vair no more I wear, Nor thou the crimson sheen. |
† d. absol. the sheen: the bright weapon; also, the bright sun. nonce-uses.
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2268 Þat oþer schalk wyth a schunt þe schene wyth-haldez. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 440 For to schylde fro the schene, oþer any schade kest. |
e. quasi-adv.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 246 A muchel wind alið mid a lutel rein & te sunne þer efter schineð þe schennure. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 11251 Cloþes of golde þat schon so schene. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1649 The windowes..[were] shapyn full shene all of shyre stones. 1446 Lydg. Nightingale Poems ii. 194 My Ien blynde, that whylom shoone so sheene. 1835 Lytton Rienzi i. xi, The moonlight stole soft and sheen. 1872 Holland Marble Prophecy 31 They flash and shine among the flowers While dripping sheen in golden showers. |
▪ V. sheen, v.
(ʃiːn)
Forms: 4 schen, 4–6 s(c)hene, 6 scheine, Sc. scheyne, 6– sheen.
[f. sheen a.]
1. intr. a. = shine v. lit. and fig. Now only Sc. and dial. (in Sc. the ordinary word.)
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints v. (Johannes) 256 Far palacis þat sal leste euirmare, schenand with gemmys oure-alquhare. Ibid. xxv. (Julian) 54 Fore he wae Þane schenand in til halynes. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. 329 (Douce MS.) Þene vnclosed þe cloudes, þe sone con shene. c 1470 Henry Wallace iii. 119 The sone was rysyne our landis schenand brycht. 1523 Skelton Garl. Laurel 1358 Luna that so bryght doth shene. c 1530 Crt. of Love 81 No saphir ind, no rube..There lakked than..That may the castell maken for to shene. a 1542 Wyatt Ps. xxxvii. 97, I have well seene the wycked sheene lyke goolde lustie and grene as Lawrell lasting aye. 1556 Chron. Grey Friars (Camden) 69 Abowte Ester was sene..three sonnes shenynge at one tyme in the eyer. 1562 in Sel. Rec. Kirk Sess. etc. Aberd. (1846) 4 That gud lyfe, conversatioun, and maneris may scheyne. a 1565 Sir T. Challoner tr. Boeth. i. met. iii. 15 All sodeynly the Sonne..sheens the worlde over. 1588 A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. 9 Our lord Iesus thairfor sittis one the rycht hand of the pouer of god,..scheinand brychtlie with maiestie altogither diuin. 1819 Gall Poems 126 Thy ee will wake nae mair, That sheened sae fu' o' glee. |
b. poet. To cast a gleam, glisten.
| 1812 Byron Ch. Har. i. xvii, This town, That, sheening far, celestial seems to be. 1856 Meredith Shav. Shagpat (1887) 1 The illusion of rivers sheening on the sands to travellers gasping with thirst. |
2. trans. To cast a sheen upon. rare.
| 1901 H. Trench Deirdre Wed 31 Who is this woman..With sun-red hair, entangled as with flight Sheening the knees up to her bosom drawn? |
Hence ˈsheening ppl. a.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints ii. (Paulus) 293 At þe ȝat now com þai In, petir and paule, in clathis shenand. c 1470 Henry Wallace viii. 1201 His schenand schoys, that burnyst was full beyn. 1506 Kal. Sheph. (Sommer) 146 The iyes that is blacke as Iete and in the myddes clere and shenynge. 1878 Hardy Ret. Native i. x, A great salt sheening sea bending into the land like a bow. |