Word of the Day

: October 5, 2014

fulgent

adjective FULL-jint

What It Means

: dazzlingly bright : radiant

fulgent in Context

"Lilac and wistaria and redbud, even the shabby heaven-trees, had never been finer, fulgent, with a burning scent…." - William Faulkner, Sanctuary, 1931

"Both queens were outfitted with lush and representative mantles, white kid gloves, splendid jewelry and dazzling crowns to make a picture of fulgent finery." - Nell Nolan, Times-Picayune (New Orleans), February 26, 2012

Did You Know?

"The weary Sun betook himself to rest; - / Then issued Vesper from the fulgent west." That's how the appearance of the evening star in the glowing western sky at sunset looked to 19th-century poet William Wordsworth. Fulgent was a particularly apt choice to describe the radiant light of the sky at sunset. The word derives from the Latin verb fulgēre, meaning "to shine," a root which is itself akin to the Latin flagrare, meaning "to burn." English speakers have been using fulgent to depict resplendence since at least the 15th century.