Splendor

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsplÉ›ndÉ™/
• Rhymes: -É›ndÉ™(r)

Alternative forms

• splendour British

Origin

From Anglo-Norman splendur, splendour, or directly from its source Latin splendor, from the verb splendere ("to shine").

Full definition of splendor

Noun

1. Great light, luster or brilliance.
• Rudyard Kipling The Just So Stories; How the Rhinoceros got its skin:"Once upon a time on an uninhabited island on the shores of the Red Sea, there lived a Parsee from whose hat the rays of the sun were reflected in more-than-oriental-splendour."
2. Magnificent appearance, display or grandeur.
• 1963, Margery Allingham, The China Governess Chapter 1, The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of a promise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great architectural achievement.
3. The splendor of the Queen's coronation was without comparison.
4. Great fame or glory.

Usage notes

Splendor is the standard spelling in American English, and splendour in modern British English.