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From Middle Englishlimnen, limyne, lymm, lymn, lymne(“to illuminate (a manuscript)”),[1] a variant of luminen(“to illuminate (a manuscript)”),[2] short form of enluminen(“to shed light on, illuminate; to enlighten; to make bright or clear; to give colour to; to illuminate (a manuscript); to depict, describe; to adorn or embellish with figures of speech or poetry; to make famous, glorious, or illustrious”), from Old Frenchenluminer(“to brighten, light up; to give colour to; to illuminate (a manuscript)”),[3] from Latinillūminō(“to brighten, light up; to adorn; to make conspicuous”), from il- (a variant of in-(prefix meaning ‘in, inside’)) + lūminō(“to brighten, illuminate; to reveal”) (from lūmen(“light; (poetic) brightness”) (from Proto-Indo-European*lewk-(“bright; to shine; to see”)) + -ō(suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)).[4]
Pronunciation
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a.1627, Francis Bacon, “[Poems Found among the Papers of Sir Henry Wotton.] The World.”, in Henry Wotton, edited by Izaac Walton [i.e., Izaak Walton], Reliquiæ Wottonianæ: Or, A Collection of Lives, Letters, Poems; with Characters of Sundry Personages: And Other Incomparable Pieces of Language and Art.[…], 4th edition, London: Printed for B[enjamin] Tooke,[…], and T[homas] Sawbridge[…], published 1685, →OCLC, page 397:
Who then to frail Mortality ſhall truſt, / But limns in Water, or but writes in Duſt.
Then the Painter, according to the pattern of ſome living thing, portraieth [draweth out] the picture groſly; afterward he reſembleth it to the life, and with his pencil limneth it with different painting colors.
1846, Charles Devonshire, The Sorceress of Saragossa; a Play, in Five Acts, Falmouth, Cornwall: Printed by Fred H. Earle,[…], →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 23:
Thou limnest well, / Were I to paint, I should shew you happy.
1661 November 1, Thomas Browne, “[Domestic Correspondence.] Dr. Browne to His Son Thomas.—Norwich, Nov. 1, [1661.]”, in Simon Wilkin, editor, The Works of Sir Thomas Browne (Bohn’s Antiquarian Library), volume III, London: Henry G[eorge] Bohn, published 1852, →OCLC, page 395:
Read books which are in french and Latin, for so you may retain and increase your knowledge in Latin: some times draw and limn and practise perspective.
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In telling these people's stories Mr. [Robert Olen] Butler draws upon the same gifts of empathy and insight, the same ability to limn an entire life in a couple of pages, [...]
2014 October, Karen Hawkins, chapter 2, in The Prince who Loved Me, 1st Pocket Books paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books, →ISBN, page 9:
And in her mind's eye, Roland had been exactly such a man as this—tall, dark, foreboding even, with a strong jaw that bespoke a character worth knowing, and intelligence agleam in his eyes. As if to reaffirm her imagination, the sun broke through the trees to limn his broad shoulders with gold.
1721, John Strype, chapter XXV, in Ecclesiastical Memorials; Relating Chiefly to Religion, and the Reformation of It, and the Emergencies of the Church of England, under King Henry VIII.King Edward VI. and Queen Mary the First. […] In Three Volumes.[…], volume I, London: Printed for John Wyat,[…], →OCLC, book I, page 182:
Some of her [Elizabeth Barton's] Revelations were no better than ſilly Tales: Such was a certain Tale of Mary Magdalen, delivering her a Letter from Heaven, that was limned with golden Letters: which indeed was written by a Monk of St. Auguſtines, Canterbury: and another at Calais.