Etymograph

English

brilliant

Brilliant comes from French briller ‘to shine, to sparkle’, and goes back to Italian brillare.

  1. Italianc. 1300–presentbrillare1‘to shine’
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentbriller1‘to shine’
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentbrillant1
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1717brilliant1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English brilliant
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1717, Alexander Pope: “This snuffbox — on the hinge see brilliants shine.”.

Lineage

  1. Italianc. 1300–presentbrillareWiktionary, English brilliant‘to shine’
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentbrillerWiktionary, English brilliant‘to shine’
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentbrillantWiktionary, English brilliant
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1717brilliantWiktionary, English brilliant. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1717, Alexander Pope: “This snuffbox — on the hinge see brilliants shine.”

The story

Borrowed from French brillant (late 17th century), present participle of the verb briller, from Italian brillare, possibly from Latin berillus, beryllus (‘a beryl, gem, eyeglass’), from Ancient Greek βήρυλλος (bḗrullos, “beryl”).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with brilliant, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Ancient Greek βήρυλλος ‘beryl’

  • beryl ← beril ← bērillus

1 more relative in the full family tree

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Today it means

adj Shining brightly.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “brilliant”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Italian brillare / brilliant