luminous

Borrowed from Middle French lumineus, from Latin lūminōsus.

• IPA^(key): /ˈluːmɪnəs/

• Audio (Southern England)

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luminous (comparative more luminous, superlative most luminous)

1. Emitting light; glowing brightly; shining.

   Synonyms: beamful, shining, radiant; see also Thesaurus:shining

   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter IV, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 21:

     The moon, which had been slowly ascending, now shone through an open space between the trees; and the rippling waters of the brook gave back her light in luminous vibrations.

   • 1888–1891, Herman Melville, “[Billy Budd, Foretopman.] Chapter [HTTP://GUTENBERG.NET.AU/EBOOKS06/0608511H.HTML CHAPTER 11].”, in Billy Budd and Other Stories, London: John Lehmann, published 1951, →OCLC:

     The bonfire in his heart made luminous the rose-tan in his cheek.

2. Brightly illuminated.

   Synonyms: lighted, lit up; see also Thesaurus:illuminated

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

3. Clear; enlightening; easy to understand.

   a luminous explanation