Other forms: luminaries
A luminary is somebody who shines in their field. A leading luminary, luminaries of the stage, gathered luminaries.
It is grand and often faintly ironic, since calling somebody a luminary in a small field is a joke. The literal sense is a source of light, and the Latin is the word for a lamp.
1nounluminarySomebody who shines in their field.
“The conference attracted luminaries from the world of science, including several Nobel winners.”
luminary is a person.
Old French luminarie means a lamp or light, from Latin lumen, light.
Proto-Indo-European
*lewk- — bright; to shine
Medieval Latin
lūminārium
Old French
luminarie — lamp, lights, lighting; candles; brightness, illumination
Middle English
lūminārī
English, today
luminary
Built from
From Late Middle English lūminārī, lūminārīe (“lamp; source of spiritual light, example of holiness; glory”), borrowed from Old French luminarie (“lamp, lights, lighting; candles; brightness, illumination”), variant of luminaire (“light fixture”) (modern French luminaire), from Medieval Latin lūminārium, from lūmināre (“that which gives light; light; lamp; body giving light, especially a heavenly body”), from lūmen (“light; brightness”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European lewk- (“bright; to shine”)) + -āris. a doublet of luminaire.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA