luminary

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈlumɪˌnɛri/ UK /ˈluːmɪnəri/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
a person of prominence or brilliance in a field; a celestial light

The conference drew luminaries from across the sciences.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person of prominence or... leader celebrity notable dignitary star authority expert

Opposites

nobody nonentity

Word family

Related forms luminousluminescenceilluminatelumen

Etymology

From Latin luminare ('lamp, heavenly body'), from lumen ('light'), from lucere ('to shine'), ultimately from lux ('light').

luminare Latin lumen Latin *lewk- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

# luminary

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈlumɪˌnɛri
**IPA (UK):** ˈluːmɪnəri

## Meanings
1. a person of prominence or brilliance in a field; a celestial light

## Examples
- The conference drew luminaries from across the sciences.

## Synonyms
- leader
- celebrity
- notable
- dignitary
- star
- authority
- expert

## Antonyms
- nobody
- nonentity

## Related Forms
- luminous
- luminescence
- illuminate
- lumen

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: luminare
- Root: lumen
- Root: *lewk-

## Etymology
From Latin luminare ('lamp, heavenly body'), from lumen ('light'), from lucere ('to shine'), ultimately from lux ('light').

## AI Etymology
Luminary comes from Latin luminare ('lamp, heavenly body'), from lumen ('light'), from lucere ('to shine'), ultimately from lux ('light'). The etymological trail includes Latin luminare, Latin lumen, Proto-Indo-European *lewk-. The same word family includes luminous, luminescence, illuminate, lumen. Its current noun use means "a person of prominence or brilliance in a field; a celestial light".

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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