Literary notes about luminary (AI summary)
The term "luminary" is used in literature to evoke both literal and metaphorical radiance. It can denote an actual bright celestial body—as when ancient epics describe divine sunlight or the sun’s brilliance, positioning it as the central source of energy and life [1, 2, 3, 4]—while it also symbolizes eminent individuals who guide or influence with their intellectual or moral light [5, 6, 7]. Authors employ the word to blur the line between the natural world and human achievement, thereby imbibing their narratives with a sense of grandeur and transcendence [8, 9].
- The illustrious Rishi, in the very sight of that monarch, ascended upward to interview Surya, himself possessed of the splendour of that luminary.
— from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 - The lens, carried in a short tube, has its axis directed to this image, just as it would be pointed at the luminary itself.
— from Discoveries and Inventions of the Nineteenth Century by Robert Routledge - Pale and windy as the sunrise was, there was dazzle enough in the soaring luminary to stagger my sight on my first emergence.
— from An Ocean Tragedy by William Clark Russell - Towers and buttes and temples take on new qualities under the softer luminary of the night.
— from The Grand Canyon of Arizona: How to See It by George Wharton James - Remembering that I was but a humble servant before this great military luminary, I thanked the General with due servility for his hospitality.
— from The Man with the Clubfoot by Valentine Williams - 'I shall expect some recompense,' said the legal luminary.
— from Settling Day by Nat Gould - It indicated the task of the Jew, when scattered over the wide globe, to be a light to the nations, the religious luminary to the world.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - The gratitude with which she remembers that the Light she spreads is principally owing to the kind aid of a great Luminary
— from The Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution, Vol. 2 (of 2) or, Illustrations, by Pen And Pencil, of the History, Biography, Scenery, Relics, and Traditions of the War for Independence by Benson John Lossing - Give me tidings of her, oh luminary of the three faces!
— from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
