오늘의 영어 단어(2009년9월7일)

luminary /LOO-muh-nair-ee/ , noun:

1. Any body that gives light, especially one of the heavenly bodies.

2. A person of eminence or brilliant achievement.

Read the full entry|See synonyms|Comment on today's word

Quotes:

There's something comforting in those occasional lapses when a luminary lurches and trips over the humble stone his powerful torch somehow failed to reveal.

-- Brad Leithauser, "You Haven't Heard the Last of This", New York Times, August 30, 1998

. . .such jazz luminaries as Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford, Louis Armstrong, and Earl Hines.

-- Daniel Mark Epstein, Nat King Cole

Origin:

Luminary derives from Latin luminare, "a window," from lumin-, lumen, "light."