Lambent and Flames

Fire is frequently associated with lapping or licking imagery: flames are often described as "tongues" that "lick." Lambent, which first appeared in English in the 17th century, is a part of this tradition, coming from lambens, the present participle of the Latin verb lambere, meaning "to lick." In its earliest uses, lambent meant "playing lightly over a surface," "gliding over," or "flickering." These uses were usually applied to flames or light, and by way of that association, the term eventually came to describe things with a radiant or brilliant glow, as Alexander Pope used it in his 1717 poem "Eloisa to Abelard": "Those smiling eyes, attemp'ring ev'ry ray, Shone sweetly lambent with celestial day."

Examples of lambent in a Sentence

lambent sunlight glinting off the waves a writer known for her lambent wit

Recent Examples on the Web Yet this depth of character and vision flows through the lambent light of the French countryside and the social whirl of energized encounters; the movie’s leap between the trivial and the transcendent is wondrous. — Richard Brody, The New Yorker, "Watch the Films of Éric Rohmer on His Centenary," 20 Mar. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'lambent.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.