Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web
Related Searches
Synonyms
Nearby Words

Brilliant

 - 4 dictionary results

bril⋅liant

  [bril-yuhnt]
Use Brilliant in a Sentence
–adjective
1. shining brightly; sparkling; glittering; lustrous: the brilliant lights of the city.
2. distinguished; illustrious: a brilliant performance by a young pianist.
3. having or showing great intelligence, talent, quality, etc.: a brilliant technician.
4. strong and clear in tone; vivid; bright: brilliant blues and greens; the brilliant sound of the trumpets.
5. splendid or magnificent: a brilliant social event.
–noun
6. Jewelry. a gem, esp. a diamond, having any of several varieties of the brilliant cut.
7. Printing. a size of type about 3 1/2 -point.
Origin:
1675–85; < F brillant shining, prp. of briller < It brillare to glitter (perh. deriv. of an expressive root); see -ant

Related forms:
bril⋅liant⋅ly, adverb
bril⋅liant⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. See bright.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Brilliant
bril·liant   (brĭl'yənt)   
adj.  

  1. Full of light; shining. See Synonyms at bright.

  2. Relating to or being a hue that has a combination of high lightness and strong saturation.

  3. Sharp and clear in tone.

  4. Glorious; magnificent: the brilliant court life at Versailles.

  5. Superb; wonderful: The soloist gave a brilliant performance.

  6. Marked by unusual and impressive intellectual acuteness: a brilliant mind; a brilliant solution to the problem. See Synonyms at intelligent.

n.  A precious gem, especially a diamond, finely cut in any of various forms with numerous facets.

[French brillant, present participle of briller, to shine, from Italian brillare, perhaps from brillo, beryl, from Latin bēryllus; see beryl.]
bril'liant·ly adv., bril'liant·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

brilliant 
1681, from Fr. "sparkling, shining" prp. of briller "to shine," from It. brillare "sparkle, whirl," probably from V.L. *berillare, from berillus "beryl, precious stone," from L. beryllus. In reference to diamonds (1690) it means a flat-topped cut invented 17c. by Venetian cutter Vincenzo Peruzzi. Brilliance (1755) seems to be an Eng. formation.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Computing Dictionary

Brilliant
One of five pedagogical languages based on Markov algorithms, used in ["Nonpareil, a Machine Level Machine Independent Language for the Study of Semantics", B. Higman, ULICS Intl Report No ICSI 170, U London (1968)].
See also Diamond, Nonpareil, Pearl, Ruby.

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
Cite This Source
Search another word or see Brilliant on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us:
Partner Sites:
Ask AnswersEviteExpediaHotelsHotwireLife123LiveDailyMy Way