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Allow us to shed some light on the history of limn, a word with lustrous origins. Limn traces to the Anglo-French verb aluminer and ultimately to the Latin illuminare, which means "to illuminate." Its use as an English verb dates from the days of Middle English; at first, limn referred to the action of illuminating (that is, decorating) medieval manuscripts with gold, silver, or brilliant colors. William Shakespeare extended the term to painting in his poem Venus and Adonis: "Look when a painter would surpass the life / In limning out a well-proportioned steed...."
Synonyms
Examples of limn in a Sentence
Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 6 June 2023
The soft sunlight illuminates sturdy wood pews, limning swaying worshipers in white gold.
—Aj Willingham, CNN, 15 Apr. 2023
Last Summer in the City seems to limn his own life: Like Calligarich, the novel’s protagonist, Leo Gazarra, leaves Milan for Rome and a writing job, and when that job disappears, spends his summer days at the beach and his nights drifting from party to party, woman to woman.
—Vogue, 29 May 2021
The adjacent desperations of the Emory family are meant to limn the material and psychological effects of living under the threat of anti-Blackness in America.
—Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 14 Apr. 2021
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Cite this Entry
“Limn.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/limn. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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