lambent
[lam-buh nt]
- running or moving lightly over a surface: lambent tongues of flame.
- dealing lightly and gracefully with a subject; brilliantly playful: lambent wit.
- softly bright or radiant: a lambent light.
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Origin of lambent
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for lambent
Contemporary Examples
A lambent spotlight shines on each individual in his portraits, reminding the world of their forgotten existence.
Historical Examples
Just as we were parting at the door, Helen turned full on me her great, lambent eyes.
The Bacillus of BeautyHarriet Stark
A sudden tremor seemed to shake the lambent flame that had lured him on.
Flip: A California RomanceBret Harte
Venus flamed a lambent disk of pale saffron, low over the horizon.
The OctopusFrank Norris
This time he might return, immaculate, from the path of that "lambent flamelet."
Browning's HeroinesEthel Colburn Mayne
Their eyes are luminous and lambent, but it is a melancholy light.
lambent
- (esp of a flame) flickering softly over a surface
- glowing with soft radiance
- (of wit or humour) light or brilliant
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Word Origin
C17: from the present participle of Latin lambere to lick
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for lambent
adj.
1640s, from figurative use of Latin lambentem (nominative lambens), present participle of lambere "to lick," from PIE root *lab-, indicative of smacking lips or licking (cf. Greek laptein "to sip, lick," Old English lapian "to lick, lap up, suck;" see lap (v.1)).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper