limn

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 13, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>limn</strong> &#149; \LIM\&nbsp; &#149; <em>verb</em><br /> <p><strong>1 :</strong> to draw or paint on a surface</p> <p><strong>2 :</strong> to outline in clear sharp detail <strong>:</strong> <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/delineate">delineate</a></p> <p><strong>3 :</strong> <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/describe">describe</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"The book <em>limns</em> how the two men, so different in their origins and art, were remarkably similar in profound ways." — <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/11/t-magazine/the-people-james-baldwin-knew.html">Nancy Hass, <em>The New York Times</em>, 17 Dec. 2020</a></p> <p>"Her turbulent relationship with her husband, superstar poet Ted Hughes, is <em>limned</em> in terms of the relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, as they saw themselves. Together they wanted to be the most important poets of their generation." — <a href="https://www.libraryjournal.com/?detailStory=red-comet-the-short-life-and-blazing-art-of-sylvia-plath">Denise J. Stankovics, <em>The Library Journal</em>, 11 Dec. 2020</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>Allow us to shed some light on the history of <em>limn</em>, a word with lustrous origins. <em>Limn</em> traces to the Anglo-French verb <em>aluminer</em> and ultimately to the Latin <em>illuminare</em>, which means "to illuminate." Its use as an English verb dates from the days of Middle English; at first, <em>limn</em> referred to the action of <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/illuminate">illuminating</a> (that is, decorating) medieval manuscripts with gold, silver, or brilliant colors. William Shakespeare extended the term to painting in his poem <em>Venus and Adonis</em>: "Look when