gleam vs optics

gleam

noun
  • An appearance of light, especially one which is indistinct or small, or short-lived. 

  • A bright, but intermittent or short-lived, appearance of something. 

  • A look of joy or liveliness on one's face. 

  • An indistinct sign of something; a glimpse or hint. 

verb
  • Chiefly in conjunction with an adverb: to cause (light) to shine. 

  • To shine, especially in an indistinct or intermittent manner; to glisten, to glitter. 

  • To be strongly but briefly apparent. 

optics

noun
  • The physics of light and vision. 

  • Perception, image, public relations, especially in politics. 

  • The light-related aspects of a device. 

How often have the words gleam and optics occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )