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brilliant

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French brillant (late 17th century), present participle of the verb briller, from Italian brillare, possibly from Latin berillus, beryllus (a beryl, gem, eyeglass), from Ancient Greek βήρυλλος (bḗrullos, beryl).

Pronunciation

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  • Audio (US):(file)
  • IPA(key): /ˈbɹɪljənt/
  • Hyphenation: bril‧liant

Adjective

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brilliant (comparative more brilliant, superlative most brilliant)

  1. Shining brightly.
    the brilliant lights along the promenade
  2. (of a colour) Both bright and saturated.
    butterflies with brilliant blue wings
  3. (of a voice or sound) Having a sharp, clear tone.
  4. Of surpassing excellence; magnificent.
    The actor's performance in the play was simply brilliant.
  5. Highly intelligent.
    She is a brilliant scientist.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Noun

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

brilliant (countable and uncountable, plural brilliants)

  1. A finely cut gemstone, especially a diamond, cut in a particular form with numerous facets so as to maximize light return through the top (called "table") of the stone.
  2. (uncountable, printing, dated) The size of type between excelsior and diamond, standardized as 4-point.
  3. Most hummingbird species of the genus Heliodoxa.
  4. A kind of cotton goods, figured on the weaving.

Descendants

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  • (small type size): (German) Brillant
  • Malay: berlian
    • Indonesian: berlian

Translations

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Verb

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brilliant (third-person singular simple present brilliants, present participle brillianting, simple past and past participle brillianted)

  1. (transitive) To cut (a diamond) with many facets, to make it into a brilliant.
    • 1851, The Western Literary Messenger, page 256:
      In short, the diamond owed more to being brillianted and polished, and well set, than to any intrinsic worth or solidity.

Further reading

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Crimean Tatar

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French brillant.

Noun

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brilliant

  1. brilliant.

Declension

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Declension of brilliant
nominative brilliant
genitive brilliantnıñ
dative brilliantqa
accusative brilliantnı
locative brilliantta
ablative brillianttan

References

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  • Mirjejev, V. A., Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎[1], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN