limn

• POS: Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

limn, v. t. [OE. limnen, fr. luminen, for enluminen, F. enluminer to illuminate, to limn, LL. illuminare to paint. Illuminate, Luminous.].

•  To draw or paint; especially, to represent in an artistic way with pencil or brush.  [1913 Webster]

  "Let a painter carelessly limn out a million of faces, and you shall find them all different."  [1913 Webster]
•  To picture in words; to describe in graphic terms.  [PJC]
•  To illumine, as books or parchments, with ornamental figures, letters, or borders.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

limn, v.tr.
1 archaic paint (esp. a miniature portrait).
2 hist. illuminate (manuscripts).

Derivative

limner n.

Etymology

obs. lumine illuminate f. OF luminer f. L luminare: see LUMEN

THESAURUS

limn

bring to life, cartoon, catch a likeness, chalk, character, characterize, charcoal, chart, color, contour, copy, crayon, crosshatch, dash off, daub, delineate, depict, describe, design, diagram, doodle, draft, draw, evoke, express, give words to, hatch, hit off, image, interpret, map, notate, outline, paint, paint a picture, pencil, picture, picturize, portray, print, profile, register, render, represent, rub, schematize, scratch, scumble, set forth, shade, silhouette, sketch, stencil, symbolize, take a rubbing, tint, trace, trace out, trace over, write