Summary: Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 17, 2013 is: resplendent \rih-SPLEN-dunt\ adjective : shining brilliantly : characterized by a glowing splendor Examples: All eyes were drawn to the beautiful young womanresplendent in an elegant evening gownwho had just appeared at the top of the stairway. "On a dazzling Saturday afternoon, splashed with resplendent sunshine after too many cool gray days of rain, I slowly picked my way through the hordes of tourists...." From an article by Kaelen Wilson-Goldie in Artforum, June 8, 2013 Did you know? "Resplendent" has a lot in common with "splendid" (meaning "shining" or "brilliant"), "splendent" ("shining" or "glossy"), and "splendor" ("brightness" or "luster"). Each of those glowing terms gets its shine from the Latin verb "splendēre" ("to shine"). Etymologists believe "splendēre" might also be related to Middle Irish "lainn," meaning "bright." "Splendent," "splendor," and "resplendent" first showed their lustrous senses in English during the 15th century, but "splendid" didn't light up our language until over 175 years later; its earliest known use dates from 1624.
