brilliant.
Shining brightly.
Meaning & usage
Shining brightly.
the brilliant lights along the promenade
Both bright and saturated.
butterflies with brilliant blue wings
Having a sharp, clear tone.
Of surpassing excellence; magnificent.
The actor's performance in the play was simply brilliant.
Highly intelligent.
She is a brilliant scientist.
Great, wonderful.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Dravidian *weḷ Proto-Dravidian *ūr Proto-Dravidian *weḷ-ūr Proto-Indo-Iranian *i- Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Indo-Iranian *-kas Proto-Indo-Iranian *-ikas Sanskrit -इक (-ika) Prakrit -इय (-iya) Prakrit वेरुलिअ (vērulia)bor. Ancient Greek βήρυλλος (bḗrullos)bor. Latin bēryllusder. Italian brillarebor. French briller French brillantbor. English brilliant 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”). By surface analysis, French brill(er) + -i- + -ant.
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.
The size of type between excelsior and diamond, standardized as 4-point.
Most hummingbird species of the genus Heliodoxa.
A kind of cotton goods, figured on the weaving.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Dravidian *weḷ Proto-Dravidian *ūr Proto-Dravidian *weḷ-ūr Proto-Indo-Iranian *i- Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Indo-Iranian *-kas Proto-Indo-Iranian *-ikas Sanskrit -इक (-ika) Prakrit -इय (-iya) Prakrit वेरुलिअ (vērulia)bor. Ancient Greek βήρυλλος (bḗrullos)bor. Latin bēryllusder. Italian brillarebor. French briller French brillantbor. English brilliant 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”). By surface analysis, French brill(er) + -i- + -ant.
To cut (a diamond) with many facets, to make it into a brilliant.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Dravidian *weḷ Proto-Dravidian *ūr Proto-Dravidian *weḷ-ūr Proto-Indo-Iranian *i- Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Indo-Iranian *-kas Proto-Indo-Iranian *-ikas Sanskrit -इक (-ika) Prakrit -इय (-iya) Prakrit वेरुलिअ (vērulia)bor. Ancient Greek βήρυλλος (bḗrullos)bor. Latin bēryllusder. Italian brillarebor. French briller French brillantbor. English brilliant 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”). By surface analysis, French brill(er) + -i- + -ant.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.