limn
[lim]
- to represent in drawing or painting.
- to portray in words; describe.
- Obsolete. to illuminate (manuscripts).
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Origin of limn
1400–50; late Middle English lymne, variant of Middle English luminen to illuminate (manuscripts), aphetic variant of enlumine < Middle French enluminer < Latin inlūmināre to embellish, literally, light up; see illuminate
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for limning
Contemporary Examples
From it I learned the importance of limning a particular setting, a sense of place.
The boundaries of acceptable comedy have once again asserted themselves, limning the limits of gallows humor.
Historical Examples
For his face, late blue with rage, was now black with a limning of the sewer liquid.
The Free LancesMayne Reid
But the canvas of my imagination, when it came to limning the Man About Town, was blank.
The Four MillionO. Henry
No one talks of "limning a missal," or of a "limned missal."
Arrows of the Chace, v. 2John Ruskin
Hilarius crimsoned, he was weary of limning ever with blue and gold, he faltered.
The Gathering of Brother HilariusMichael Fairless
In this art of limning or painting in water colours, his artists are wonderfully expert.
limn
- to represent in drawing or painting
- archaic to describe in words
- an obsolete word for illuminate
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Word Origin
C15: from Old French enluminer to illumine (a manuscript) from Latin inlūmināre to brighten, from lūmen light
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 limning
limn
v.
early 15c., "to illuminate" (manuscripts), altered from Middle English luminen, "to illuminate manuscripts" (late 14c.), from Old French luminer "light up, illuminate," from Latin luminare "illuminate, burnish," from lumen (genitive luminis) "radiant energy, light," related to lucere "to shine" (see light (n.)). Sense of "portray, depict" first recorded 1590s. Related: Limned.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper