Definition of pellucid
1 : admitting maximum passage of light without diffusion or distortion a pellucid stream
2 : reflecting light evenly from all surfaces
3 : easy to understand
From the M-W Editors
pellucid was our Word of the Day on 10/29/2015. Hear the podcast!
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Examples of pellucid in a Sentence
the pellucid waters that lap upon that island's beaches
her poetry has a pellucid simplicity that betrays none of the sweat that went into writing it
Did You Know?
Pellucid is formed from Latin per ("through") plus lucidus—a word meaning "lucid, clear" that ultimately derives from the verb lucēre, meaning "to shine." Lucēre has many shining relatives in English. Among them are translucent (essentially, "clear enough to allow light to pass through"), elucidate ("to make clear, explain"), lucent ("luminous" or "clear"), and of course lucid itself (which can mean "shining," "mentally sound," or "easily understood"). Another related word is Lucifer (a name for the devil that literally means "light-bearer"). Other relatives—such as lackluster ("lacking brightness"), illustrate (originally, "to make bright"), and lustrous ("shining" or "radiant")—trace from the related Latin verb lustrare ("to brighten"). Clearly, pellucid is just one of a family of brilliant terms.
Origin and Etymology of pellucid
Latin pellucidus, from per through + lucidus lucid — more at for
First Known Use: 1563
PELLUCID Defined for English Language Learners
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