“luminaries” is a form of
luminary
UK /ˈluːmɪn(ə)ɹi/ · US /ˈluməˌnɛɹi/ noun
Forms luminaries
- noun One who is an inspiration to others; one who has achieved success in one's chosen field; a leading light.
- noun (now uncommon) A body that gives light; especially, one of the heavenly bodies.
- noun (archaic) An artificial light; an illumination.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Late Middle English lūminārī, lūminārīe (“lamp; source of spiritual light, example of holiness; glory”), borrowed from Old French luminarie (“lamp, lights, lighting; candles; brightness, illumination”), variant of luminaire (“light fixture”) (modern French luminaire), from Medieval Latin lūminārium, from lūmināre (“that which gives light; light; lamp; body giving light, especially a heavenly body”), from lūmen (“light; brightness”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“bright; to shine”)) + -āris (suffix forming adjectives indicating a relationship or a pertaining to). Doublet of luminaire.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Any body that gives light, especially one of the heavenly bodies.
- noun One who illustrates any subject, or enlightens mankind; as, Newton was a distinguished luminary.
Etymology [F. luminaire, L. luminare a light or lamp, which was lighted in the churches, a luminary, fr. lumen, luminis, light, fr. lucere to be light, to shine, lux, lucis, light. See Light.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “luminary”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details