splendor

English

Alternative forms

• splendour (British, Canadian)

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman splendur, splendour, or directly from its source Latin splendor, from the verb splendere (“to shine”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsplɛndə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsplɛndɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛndə(ɹ)

Noun

splendor (usually uncountable, plural splendors) (American spelling)

1. Great light, luster or brilliance.
   • 1902, Rudyard Kipling, Just So Stories, "How the Rhinoceros got its skin"

     Once upon a time on an uninhabited island on the shores of the Red Sea, there lived a Parsee from whose hat the rays of the sun were reflected in more-than-oriental-splendour.

2. Magnificent appearance, display or grandeur.
   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess‎^[1]:

     The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of a promise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great architectural achievement.

   The splendor of the Queen's coronation was without comparison.

3. Great fame or glory.

Usage notes

Splendor is the standard spelling in American English. Splendour is correct in modern British and Commonwealth English.

Translations

magnificent appearance

• Bengali: রৌশনী (bn) (rouśni)
• Breton: splannder m
• Bulgarian: блясък (bg) m (bljasǎk), великолепие (bg) n (velikolepie), пищност (bg) f (pištnost)
• Czech: velkolepost f, nádhera f, honosnost f, lesk (cs) m
• Dutch: pracht (nl), grandeur (nl)
• French: splendeur (fr) f
• German: Pracht (de) f
• Greek: μεγαλείο (el) n (megaleío), λαμπρότητα (el) f (lamprótita), χλιδή (el) f (chlidí)
• Hebrew: פְּאֵר‎ (he) m (Pe'er), הוֹד‎ (he) m (hod)
• Irish: breáichte f, áilleacht f
• Italian: splendore (it) m
• Latin: splendor m, nitiditās f, iubar n, lux (la) f
• Malayalam: തേജസ്സ് (ml) (tējassŭ), കാന്തി (ml) (kānti)
• Maori: ahurei
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: prakt m or f

  Nynorsk: prakt f

• Polish: splendor (pl) m
• Portuguese: esplendor (pt) m
• Romanian: splendoare (ro) f
• Russian: великолепие (ru) n (velikolepije)
• Sanskrit: द्युम्न (sa) n (dyumna), तेजस् (sa) n (tejas)
• Slovak: veľkoleposť f, nádhera f, honosnosť f, lesk m
• Spanish: esplendor (es) m
• Tocharian B: pernerñe, peñiyo
• Ugaritic: 𐎅𐎄𐎗𐎚 (hdrt)

Anagrams

• speldron

---

Latin

Etymology

From splendeō +‎ -or.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈsplen.dor/, [ˈs̠pɫ̪ɛn̪d̪ɔr]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈsplen.dor/, [ˈsplɛn̪d̪or]

Noun

splendor m (genitive splendōris); third declension

1. sheen, brightness, brilliance, lustre, splendor
2. renown, fame

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	splendor	splendōrēs
Genitive	splendōris	splendōrum
Dative	splendōrī	splendōribus
Accusative	splendōrem	splendōrēs
Ablative	splendōre	splendōribus
Vocative	splendor	splendōrēs

Descendants

• Catalan: esplendor
• English: splendor
• French: splendeur
• Galician: esplendor
• Italian: splendore
• Occitan: esplendor
• Portuguese: esplendor
• Spanish: esplendor

References

• “splendor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “splendor”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to sully one's fair fame: vitae splendori(em) maculas(is) aspergere
    

---

Old French

Alternative forms

• esplendor
• esplendur
• splandor
• splendur

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin splendor.

Noun

splendor f (oblique plural splendors, nominative singular splendor, nominative plural splendors)

1. splendor (brilliant brightness)

Descendants

• French: splendeur
• → English: splendor, splendour

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (splendor)

---

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin splendor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsplɛn.dɔr/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛndɔr
• Syllabification: splen‧dor

Noun

splendor m inan

1. splendor (magnificent appearance, display or grandeur)
2. privilege, honor

Declension

Declension of splendor

	singular	plural
nominative	splendor	splendory
genitive	splendoru	splendorów
dative	splendorowi	splendorom
accusative	splendor	splendory
instrumental	splendorem	splendorami
locative	splendorze	splendorach
vocative	splendorze	splendory

Further reading

• splendor in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• splendor in Polish dictionaries at PWN