Word of the Day

: July 17, 2013

resplendent

adjective rih-SPLEN-dunt

What It Means

: shining brilliantly : characterized by a glowing splendor

resplendent in Context

All eyes were drawn to the beautiful young woman-resplendent in an elegant evening gown-who had just appeared at the top of the stairway.

"On a dazzling Saturday afternoon, splashed with resplendent sunshine after too many cool gray days of rain, I slowly picked my way through the hordes of tourists...." - From an article by Kaelen Wilson-Goldie in Artforum, June 8, 2013

Did You Know?

"Resplendent" has a lot in common with "splendid" (meaning "shining" or "brilliant"), "splendent" ("shining" or "glossy"), and "splendor" ("brightness" or "luster"). Each of those glowing terms gets its shine from the Latin verb "splendēre" ("to shine"). Etymologists believe "splendēre" might also be related to Middle Irish "lainn," meaning "bright." "Splendent," "splendor," and "resplendent" first showed their lustrous senses in English during the 15th century, but "splendid" didn't light up our language until over 175 years later; its earliest known use dates from 1624.