different between luminous vs illustrious

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French lumineus, from Latin l?min?sus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?lu?m?n?s/

Adjective

luminous (comparative more luminous, superlative most luminous)

1. Emitting light; glowing brightly.

   Synonyms: beamful, shining, radiant; see also Thesaurus:shining

   • 1924, Herman Melville, Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co., Chapter 11, [1]

     The bonfire in his heart made luminous the rose-tan in his cheek.

2. Brightly illuminated.

   Synonyms: lighted, lit up; see also Thesaurus:illuminated

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Derived terms

• luminosity

Related terms

• illuminate

Translations

English

Etymology

From Latin ill?stris (“bright, shining; distinguished, prominent, illustrious”) +? -ous (“suffix forming adjectives from nouns, to denote possession or presence of a quality in any degree”). Ill?stris is derived from ill?str? (“to brighten, illuminate; to make famous or illustrious”), from in- (“prefix meaning ‘in, inside’”) + lustr? (“to purify by making a sacrifice; to brighten, illuminate”) (from lustr? (“purificatory sacrifice”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“bright; to shine”) or *lewh?- (“to wash”)).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??l?s.t??.?s/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??l?s.t?i.?s/, /-?l?s-/
• Hyphenation: il?lus?tri?ous

Adjective

illustrious (comparative more illustrious, superlative most illustrious)

1. Admired, distinguished, respected, or well-known, especially due to past achievements or noble qualities. [from mid 16th c.]

Antonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

• lustrious

Translations

Further reading

• illustrious (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia