effulgent

ef•ful•gent (ih-FUHL-juhnt, ih-FOOL-)  adj

Definition:
shining brilliantly; radiant

effulgence noun;  effulgently adverb

Origin:
1667; back formation from effulgence, or else from L. effulgentem (nom. effulgens), prp. of effulgere, from ex "out" + fulgere "to shine", from PIE *bhleg- "to shine, flash," from base *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn"

Related:
Synonyms: glowing, luminous, bright, brilliant, incandescent, lambent, lucent, lustrous, radiant, resplendent, shining, splendid, fulgent
Related Words: fulminate, fulgent, refulgent

Sentence Examples:
• Happily the Earl had been in Bursley all day, and had dressed at the Conservative Club; and his lordship had ordered that the programme of dances should be begun. Denry learned this as soon as he emerged, effulgent, from the gentlemen's cloak-room into the broad red-carpeted corridor which runs from end to end of the ground-floor of the Town Hall. - The Card, A Story Of Adventure In The Five Towns, Arnold Bennett

• Except for the faintest tinge of olive, her cheeks were colorless, yet they spoke of perfect health, and shone with that same pale, effulgent glow, like the reflection of a late sun. - The Net, Rex Beach

• And beholding him slain by the thunderbolt, and lying down huge as a hill, the chief of the celestials found no peace, and felt as if scorched by the effulgent appearance of the dead; for though slain, he had a blazing and effulgent appearance and looked like one alive. - The Mahaharata, Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

Sources: WordSmith, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

lambent

lam•bent (LAM-buhnt)  adj

Definition:
1. brushing or flickering gently over a surface
2. glowing or luminous, but lacking heat
3. exhibiting lightness or brilliance of wit; clever or witty without unkindness

lambency noun; lambently adverb

Origin:
1647; from figurative use of L. lambentem (nom. lambens), prp. of lambere "to lick," from PIE base *lab-

Related:
Synonyms: beaming, brilliant, candescent, effulgent, fulgent, glowing, incandescent, bright, lucent, luminous, lustrous, radiant, refulgent, bright
Related Words: lamprey

Sentence Examples:
• His wit is bright, his humour attractive, but both bear the same relation to his serious genius that the mere lambent sheet-lightning playing under the edge of the summer-cloud does to the electric death-spark hid in its womb. -Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte

• As she spoke, the beautiful apparition held up her delicate hand. From the tip of each of her long taper fingers issued a lambent flame of such surpassing brilliancy as would have plunged a whole gas company into despair--it was a 'Hand of Glory,' -Grey Dolphin, Richard Harris Barham

• The rolling of heaven’s artillery seemed to afford inexpressible satisfaction to his little heart, but it was the lightning that affected him most. It filled him with a species of awful joy. No matter how it came—whether in the forked flashes of the storm, or the lambent gleamings of the summer sky—he would sit and gaze at it in solemn wonder.  -The Battery and the Boiler, R.M. Ballantyne

The Storyline
The room was dead. All three were paralyzed and not sure they had understood what had just happened in the past few minutes. Perhaps it was the long needed release, perhaps it was a cognitive break but softly a lambent change began to flicker in her eyes.

Sources: Wiktionary, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

diurnal

di•ur•nal (dahy-UR-nl)  adj

Definition:
1. of or pertaining to a day or each day; daily
2. of or belonging to the daytime
3. showing a periodic alteration of condition with day and night, as certain flowers that open by day and close by night (botany)
4. active by day, as certain birds and insects ( opposed to nocturnal)
5. a service book containing offices for the daily hours of prayer (liturgy)
6. a diary (archaic)
7. a newspaper, esp. a daily one (archaic)

diurnalness noun;  diurnally adverb

Origin:
late 14c., from L.L. diurnalis "daily," from L. dies "day" + -urnus, an adj. suffix denoting time.  Dies "day" is from PIE base *dyeu-  lit. "to shine"

Related:
transdiurnal, undiurnal 
Synonyms: circadian, daily, everyday, quotidian
Related Words: quotidian, circadian, diary, diet, per diem, meridian, dial, dismal

Sentence Examples:
• The early astronomers had, moreover, learned to recognise the fixed stars. It was noticed that, like the sun, many of these stars rose and set in consequence of the diurnal movement, while the moon obviously followed a similar law. -The Story of the Heavens, Robert Stawell Ball

• Rabbits and hares are crepuscular and possibly more nocturnal than diurnal. So far as I know they do not store food as do their diurnal relatives, the pikas. -A Synopsis of the North American Lagomorpha, E. Raymond Hall

• He has adhered to the diurnal form of narrative, for the sake of recording, for the benefit of future travellers, the numbers, marks, latitude, etc., of each camp, and endeavoured to compass by this composite method the value of a work of record with the interest of a narrative. -The Overland Expedition of The Messrs. Jardine, Frank Jardine and Alexander Jardine

The Storyline
As she contemplated, she began to fall into her diurnal routine.

Sources: Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day