luminary

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The Word of the Day for February 4 is:=20

luminary   \LOO-muh-nair-ee\   noun
         *1 : a person of prominence or brilliant achievement=20
     2 : a body that gives light; especially : one of the celestial bodi=
es

Example sentence:
          The front of the science building is engraved with the names o=
f luminaries from various scientific disciplines.

Did you know?
          Allow us to shed some light on "luminary." It came to English =
by way of Anglo-French and Late Latin, and it traces back to the Latin w=
ord "lumen," meaning "light." Other "lumen" descendants in English inclu=
de "illuminate" (to light up), "luminous" (emitting light) and "phillume=
nist" (one who collects matchbooks or matchbox labels). "Luminary" has b=
een shining its light in English since the 15th century.





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