Sparkling means so clean that it catches the light. A sparkling kitchen, sparkling clean, sparkling glass.
The catch is that dirt scatters light and a clean smooth surface reflects it, so sparkling really is a reliable sign of clean glass. Of drinks it means carbonated: sparkling water, sparkling wine. Of a person it means lively and quick — a sparkling conversationalist. Note sparkle; and that sparkling wine is anything fizzy that is not from Champagne.
1adjectivesparklingSo clean that it catches the light.
“After the cleaner left, the kitchen was sparkling.”
2adjectivecarbonatedCarbonated, of a drink.
“Would you like still or sparkling water with your meal?”
sparkling is a quality of brightness or fizz.
Middle English
sparkel
English
sparkle
English, today
sparkling
by surface analysis, sparkle + -ing. sparkle comes from Middle English sparkel, sparkle, sparcle, equivalent to spark + le. In some modern uses deverbal from etymology 2 below.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA