limn
Americanverb (used with object)
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to represent in drawing or painting.
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to portray in words; describe.
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Obsolete. to illuminate (manuscripts).
verb
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to represent in drawing or painting
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archaic to describe in words
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an obsolete word for illuminate
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of limn
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English lymne, variant of Middle English luminen “to illuminate (manuscripts),” variant of enlumine, from Middle French enluminer, from Latin inlūmināre “to embellish,” literally, “light up”; see illuminate
Explanation
Limn is a verb that means "to represent" or "portray." It is most often used to describe the act of drawing or painting a portrait, but it can also refer to describing or outlining a scene or event. The verb limn evolved from the Latin lumināre, "to illuminate." The word referred originally to coloring (illuminating) manuscripts. The sense of "portray" or "depict" did not come into use until the late 16th century, but that meaning is close to the original, since someone who paints a portrait usually illuminates something about the subject's character. The word is less often used of written description, as in "Her reviews tended to limn the worst aspects of the performance, ignoring the best."
Vocabulary lists containing limn
Ophelia
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As You Like It
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Martin Eden
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Who better to limn out disgust and desolation now?
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2025
Such moments of insight and empathy limn Darraj’s novel, shining through the sadness and tension of her characters’ lives.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 22, 2024
“She used beautiful words to limn grief and loss,” Professor Bell said in her post on the Barnard site.
From New York Times ● Jun. 18, 2023
Also stuffed not inelegantly between the microcosmic doings are several larger incidents that limn the bloody and brutal history of the two centuries, including South American totalitarianism, European pogroms and the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 2, 2020
Cristiana could also limn with skill, painting lifelike birds and flowers and faces I could recognize as those of Gertrude and her ladies.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
