Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To describe.
- v. To depict by painting or drawing. See Synonyms at represent.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To represent by painting or drawing; depict; delineate; hence, to describe vividly or minutely.
- To practise drawing or painting, especially in water-colors.
Wiktionary
- v. transitive To draw or paint; delineate.
- v. transitive To describe.
- v. transitive, obsolete To illuminate, as a manuscript.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To draw or paint; especially, to represent in an artistic way with pencil or brush.
- v. To picture in words; to describe in graphic terms.
- v. To illumine, as books or parchments, with ornamental figures, letters, or borders.
WordNet 3.0
- v. make a portrait of
- v. trace the shape of
Etymologies
- Middle English luminem, limnen ("to illuminate (a manuscript)"), from Middle French enluminer, from Latin illūminō ("I illuminate") (English illuminate), in + lūminō ("light up"), from lūmen ("light"), from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (English leam ("glow")). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English limnen, to illuminate (a manuscript), probably alteration (influenced by limnour, illustrator) of luminen, from Old French luminer, from Latin lūmināre, to illuminate, adorn, from lūmen, lūmin-, light. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“I think it is part of Dadd's predilection for double-speak and dangerous puns: "Elimination" contains the word "limn" which is a good word for painting, but also is part of Dadd's habit of decrying painting as pointless and worthless.”
“Tangential factoids, unrhymed chiming, and wanton speculation: New York Times book reviewer Michiko Kakutani is somehat, er, somewhat known for her frequent use of the word limn, apparently it's an inside joke among writers and critics.”
“Although the Sun has used the word limn twice before in headlines (and 47 times, total, in the paper's history), those previous uses didn't occasion much, if any, comment.”
“It is probably a bit too harsh to call those upset by The Baltimore Sun's recent use of the word limn in a headline word-haters, but I assume they'd be even more offended by the fancy word misologists.”
“7, The Baltimore Sun used the word limn in a front-page headline ("Opposing votes limn difference in race").”
“William Safire, back in 2002, called limn a "vogue word" and gave it a life span of”
“But critics do have a point: the Sun's headline would have performed a lot better on the web if "limn" had been swapped out for "Justin Bieber.”
The Huffington Post: Baltimore Sun's Use Of English Language Confuses Readership
“Strictly defined, "limn" is a verb that means "to draw or paint on a surface" or "to outline in clear sharp detail.”
The Huffington Post: Baltimore Sun's Use Of English Language Confuses Readership
“And now, when you put that into Google, all the top results refer to the confusion that the word "limn" caused the city of Baltimore.”
The Huffington Post: Baltimore Sun's Use Of English Language Confuses Readership
“The sheer sonic fragility of "limn" makes it easy to read as suggesting a fragile or suggestive depiction.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘limn’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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important
shamanism, consol, sanguine, iffy, affinity, concatenation, honed, innumberable, aiden, inexorable, vet, suss and 176 more...
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GRE Barron's 800
zealot, wistful, welter, wary, whimsical, warranted, vortex, vivisection, volatile, vitiate, viscous, visage and 787 more...
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my fab list
blowsabella, aperçu, froideur, salubrious, abject, gallipot, mumchance, wainscot, virago, macerate, lascivious, clandestine and 181 more...
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wallace
Remington, Windsor, prorector, wen, aver, mottle, seltzer, tepee, lapidary, effete, sotto, presbyopia and 355 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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phrontistery - l
from phrontistery.info
lacis, laches, labret, labile, lability, labarum, labefactation, labeorphily, lux, luff, lour, limn and 496 more...
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Hence
Words with definitions that have a "hence" in them.
hanger, Deet, tripe, spindlelegs, fiddle, store, pluck, snap, villain, link, comedy, particular and 410 more...
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List of Impressive Dissertation Words
Extraordinary words that Johnston and Shea might try to use while writing their dissertations.
egress, limn, effluvium, asynchronous, imbibe, opine, cognoscente, gnosis, inchoate, cathect, austerity, prescient and 1 more...
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Words to research
balkanize, obstreperous, dysphoria, euphoria, sinecure, abstruse, chin music, colophon, signature, notwithstanding, nullity, nullity of a dete... and 26 more...
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Literary critical terms
cathexis, catachresis, polyvocal, alterity, liminality, liminal, limn, erasure, metonymic, intertextual, intrapoetic, contradistinction and 66 more...
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graphism
of or related to drawing—forms, tools, techniques, processes, practices, etc.
limn, vectorial, limned, synecdoche, adumbrate, lapis, colophon, grapheme, isogloss, sciagraphy, palimpsest, homunculus and 18 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1824 more...
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♥
ambrosia, inamorata, gossamer, lily-white, hummingbird, roucoulement, poppy, daisy, calypso, lunula, lamb, dove and 1526 more...
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ash vocab
flippant, fillip, expiate, explicate, extirpate, facile, florid, fealty, allegiance, fetid, febrile, pert and 134 more...
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....the prison library
// god mandated attempt to realign with the timeless forces of the universe via remastered locution //
desultory, dénouement, demesne, dalliance, chatoyant, antechamber, akimbo, cacography, germane, cuboid, miasma, mordant and 89 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for limn.
jorge999 the coltish girl was beautifully limned Nov 6, 2009
john "Of course, these seven words aren’t the only ones overworked by book reviewers. After all, I haven’t even mentioned limn."
The New York Times, Seven Deadly Words of Book Reviewing, by Bob Harris, March 25, 2008
Jul 28, 2008
roseandivy "Sweetly are the secrets told-
Wrapt in crystal, limned in gold."
~Sharon Shinn Mar 3, 2008