lambent

== English == === Etymology === From Latin lambēns, present participle of lambō (“lick”). === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA(key): /ˈlæmbənt/ === Adjective === lambent (comparative more lambent, superlative most lambent) Brushing or flickering gently over a surface. 1800, William Cowper, The Task, Book VI: "The Winter Walk at Noon", Poems, J. Johnson, page 232, No foe to man / Lurks in the ſerpent now: the mother ſees, / And ſmiles to ſee, her infant's playful hand / Stretch'd forth to dally with the creſted worm, / To ſtroke his azure neck, or to receive / The lambent homage of his arrowy tongue. Glowing or luminous, but lacking heat. 1697, John Dryden, Aeneas,Book II, from The Works of Virgil: [W]hile I held my son, in the short space Betwixt our kisses and our last embrace; Strange to relate, from young Iülus’ head A lambent flame arose, which gently spread Around his brows, and on his temples fed. 1839, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Jonathan Birch (translator), Faust: A Tragedy, Black and Armstrong, page 127, The Witch, with much ceremony, fills the basin. As FAUST is about to raise it to his lips, it emits a clear flame. MEPHISTOPHELES. Quick! quickly down with it!—no breathing time allowed! […] And does a lambent flame prevent thee quaff? (figuratively) Exhibiting lightness or brilliance of wit; clever or witty without unkindness. Antonyms: biting, cutting ==== Derived terms ==== lambency lambently ==== Translations ==== === Further reading === “lambent”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022. == Latin == === Verb === lambent third-person plural future active indicative of lambō