Meaning
To draw or paint; to delineate.
Etymology
Origin: Middle English
From Middle English limnen, limyne, lymm, lymn, lymne (“to illuminate (a manuscript)”), a variant of luminen (“to illuminate (a manuscript)”), short form of enluminen (“to shed light on, illuminate; to enlighten; to make bright or clear; to give colour to; to illuminate (a manuscript); to depict, describe; to adorn or embellish with figures of speech or poetry; to make famous, glorious, or illustrious”), from Old French enluminer (“to brighten, light up; to give colour to; to illuminate (a manuscript)”), from Latin illūminō (“to brighten, light up; to adorn; to make conspicuous”), from il- (a variant of in- (prefix meaning ‘in, inside’)) + lūminō (“to brighten, illuminate; to reveal”) (from lūmen (“light; (poetic) brightness”) (from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“bright; to shine; to see”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)).
Synonyms & Antonyms
NYT Puzzle Appearances
Accepted in 25 recorded puzzles:
- 2026-07-20IHLMNOT
- 2026-07-02MEGILNT
- 2026-06-04MANIDLT
- 2026-06-02LDEIMNW
- 2026-04-19MATLINU
- 2026-03-26IADLMNO
- 2026-01-13MEYTLIN
- 2025-09-27LCYNMIE
- 2025-08-21LDNIGMP
- 2025-07-10LEPMINT
- 2025-05-07NCOLIMT
- 2025-03-22MDONLIG
+13 earlier appearances in the archive.