radiante

Forms

radiante m or f (masculine and feminine plural radiantes)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin radiāns (“shining, radiant”), the present participle of radiō (“to emit rays, shine”).^[2][1][3] The Latin verb is derived from radius (“rod; ray of light”).^[3][4] Corominas lists the adjective among the learned words of the family of rayo, the inherited outcome of the same noun.^[4][5] The Spanish Wiktionary instead forms it from radiar with -nte, but that verb is not recorded until about 1520 and became usual only in the 19th century.^[6][4][5] English radiant and French radiant are the same borrowing.^[1][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are in the poetry of the early 15th century: Diego de Valencia, writing between 1405 and 1412 (in a copy of about 1465), calls God Dios del çielo radiante, and the Marqués de Santillana's Triunfete de amor (c. 1430) has a deity diafana e radiante “translucent and shining”.^[8] Corominas dates it to the mid-15th century in Diego de Burgos.^[4]

Semantic evolution

For a long time it was a poetic word: Autoridades defines it as giving off rays of light and notes that it is used mostly in poetry, quoting Bravo's line on la luz radiante of the sun.^[9] The Academy's dictionary of 1869 moved it to physics, “giving off rays of light or heat”, and that of 1884 added the figurative sense “brilliant, resplendent”.^[10][11] In the 19th century it was also said of a face or person radiante de felicidad “radiant with happiness”, the sense of joy the DLE now gives as its second.^[12][2] Physics keeps it in energía radiante and calor radiante.^[2][13]

Timeline

• 1405–1412 – Diego de Valencia, Dios del çielo radiante (in a copy of about 1465).^[8]
• c. 1430 – the Marqués de Santillana, Triunfete de amor.^[8]
• mid-15th century – Diego de Burgos, the first record in the DCECH.^[4][7]
• 1588 – first record in the Americas, in the New Kingdom of Granada: el radiante Febo.^[14]
• 1604 – Bravo's Benedictina, the quotation of Autoridades.^[4][9]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades calls it a word used mostly in poetry.^[9]
• 1869 – the Academy labels it a term of physics.^[10]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology from radians and the figurative sense “brilliant”.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Brilliant, resplendent (brillante, resplandeciente); radiant: Amaneció un domingo radiante y sin nubes.^[2][1]
2. Showing great joy or happiness: Salió radiante de la entrevista.^[2][13]
3. (physics) That radiates (radiar); emitted by radiation (radiación).^[2][15]

Word family

• suelo radiante

Related words

• irradiar
• rayo
• radiar
• Latin radius

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. radiante
3. ^ a b Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 589
4. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 799
5. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. rayo
6. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. radiante
7. ^ a b Segura Munguía, Santiago (2014), Lexicón etimológico y semántico del latín y de las voces actuales que proceden de raíces latinas o griegas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 658
8. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. radiante
9. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 481
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 652
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 894
12. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 37
13. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. radiante
14. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. radiante
15. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. radiante