Etymologically
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brilliant

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈbrɪl.i.ənt/, US /ˈbrɪl.jənt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French brillant (“shining, sparkling”),[2][3][4] present participle of briller “to shine” (16th century),[2][3] from Italian brillare (“to sparkle, whirl”),[2][3][5] probably from brillo “beryl”,[3][4] or perhaps from Vulgar Latin *berillāre “to shine like a beryl”,[2] from Latin bēryllus (“beryl”),[2][3][6] the source of beryl.[3][2] Hoad calls the Italian verb of unknown origin.[7] The English spelling -lli- represents the old sound of French -ll-.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Brightly shining, sparkling: 1681 in the OED and Barnhart,[8][3] the 1680s in Etymonline.[2] Hoad notes that it was not frequent before the 18th century.[7]

Semantic evolution

Of diamonds, it refers from the 1680s to a cut with many facets invented in the 17th century by the Venetian cutter Vincenzo Peruzzi,[2] and the noun, a diamond of the finest cut, is from 1690.[8][4] Of qualities and actions, splendid or illustrious, it is from 1758,[8] and of persons, distinguished by talent, from 1848.[2][8] In weakened colloquial use, “amazing, fantastic”, it is from 1971,[8] and the clipping brill came into use in the 1980s.[6] Brilliance is from 1755.[3]

Timeline

  • 1681 – shining.[8][3]
  • 1690 – noun, a cut diamond.[8]
  • 1755 – brilliance.[3]
  • 1758 – splendid.[8]
  • 1848 – of talented persons.[2][8]
  • 1971 – fantastic.[8]
  • 1980s – brill.[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Very bright or shining.
  2. Very clever or talented: a brilliant scientist.
  3. Outstanding or impressive.
  4. (chiefly British informal) Excellent; wonderful.
  5. Of colour, vivid and intense; of sound, sharp and clear.

Noun

  1. A gem, especially a diamond, cut with many facets to give great sparkle.

Word family

  • brilliantly
  • brilliantness
  • brilliance
  • brilliancy
  • overbrilliant
  • unbrilliant
  • brilliantine
  • beryl
  • beryllium

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press