Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “radiant” come from?

Radiant comes from Middle French radiant, from Latin radians, the present participle of radiare meaning "to shine," from radius meaning "ray" or "staff."

radiant (English): Radiating light and/or heat; Emitted as...

Definitions

  1. Radiating light and/or heat; Emitted as...

Ancestry of “radiant”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchradiant—
2Latinradiantisgenitive masculine singular of radiāns; genitive...
3Latinradiarepresent active infinitive of radiō; second-person...
4Latinradiusray; staff, rod; spoke
5English-án—
6Middle English-an—

Words derived from “radiant”

  • radiantly
  • superradiant
  • unradiant
  • subradiant
  • nonsuperradiant
  • superradiantly
  • radiantness
  • octoradiant
Every word from Middle English -an →