a. [ad. L. splendid-us, f. splendēre to be bright. So F. splendide, It. splendido, Sp. and Pg. esplendido.]
1. Marked by much grandeur or display; sumptuous, grand, gorgeous.
1624. in Ellis, Orig. Lett., Ser. I. II. 172. His enterteynment … was as splendid as that country could afford.
1647. Clarendon, Hist. Reb., I. § 167. All cost was employed to make their Entertainments splendid.
1717. Lady M. W. Montagu, Lett. to Lady Rich, 1 Jan. It is not very expensive to keep a splendid table.
1752. Young, Brothers, I. i. I know this splendid court of Macedon, And haughty Philip, well.
1797. S. & Ht. Lee, Canterb. T., I. 367. Accommodation so splendid I know not that I should desire were I a prince.
1818. Scott, Br. Lamm., xxii. The entertainment was splendid to profusion.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., ii. I. 175. The capital was excited by preparations for the most splendid coronation that had ever been known.
1856. Froude, Hist. Eng. (1858), I. ii. 176. He had the splendid tastes in which the English people most delighted.
b. Of persons: Maintaining, or living in, great style or grandeur.
1658. Sir T. Browne, Hydriot., v. 80. But man is a Noble Animal, splendid in ashes, and pompous in the grave.
a. 1687. Petty, Pol. Arith. (1690), 86. The King and some great Men of France, appear more Rich and Splendid, than those of the like Quality in England.
1779. Johnson, L. P., Pope, Wks. IV. 7. Pope was, through his whole life, ambitious of splendid acquaintance.
2. a. Resplendent, brilliant, extremely bright, in respect of light or color. rare.
1634. Sir T. Herbert, Trav., 193. In the night, during which the streets are splendide with glistering Lights and Torches.
1750. trans. Leonardus’ Mirr. Stones, 154 (234). The Topaz, is a most splendid and famous Stone of those they call burning Gems.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1824), II. 424. These splendid inhabitants of the air [sc. kingfishers] possess … the brightest colours, the roundest forms [etc.].
1820. Keats, Hyperion, II. 353. In each face he saw a gleam of light, But splendider in Saturn’s.
1829. Chapters Phys. Sci., 319. These colours, already so splendid and various when seen in one aspect, are still more diversified [etc.].
b. Magnificent in material respects; made or adorned in a grand or sumptuous manner.
1685. Baxter, Paraphr. N. T., Matt. vi. 28. A more beautifull flower than Solomons most splendid Ornaments could match.
1699. C. Hopkins, Court-Prosp., Peace, i. All [rooms] she keeps Silent, but Splendider than that of Sleeps.
1802. in Nairne Peerage Evid. (1874), 165. We arrived in this great and splendid capital.
1863. Lyell, Antiq. Man, 46. A splendid Hindoo temple has lately been discovered.
1891. Farrar, Darkn. & Dawn, lxv. Almost mad with misery, he returned to his splendid chamber in the Golden House.
c. Having or embodying some element of material grandeur or beauty.
1815. J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, II. 150. A splendid machine was constructed for this purpose [sc. ballooning] … by the younger Montgolfier.
1851. Thackeray, in Scribner’s Mag., II. (1887), 142/2. The splendider scenery of the Alps.
1860. Tyndall, Glac., II. i. 238. All these splendid phenomena are, I believe, produced by diffraction.
Comb. 1819. Lady Morgan, Autobiog. (1859), 320. A most picturesque and splendid-looking stranger in Greek costume.
d. In specific names of birds or insects.
1811. Shaw, Gen. Zool., VIII. I. 191. Splendid Creeper … Steel-blue and gold-green Creeper, with black wings and tail [etc.].
1832. J. Rennie, Butterfl. & Moths, 168. The Splendid Codling (Semasia Splendana, Stephens).
3. Imposing or impressive by greatness, grandeur, or some similar excellence.
1653. Gauden, Hierasp., Pref. 34. Persons of more ample conditions, splendider fortunes, and higher quality in civill estimation.
1750. Johnson, Rambler, No. 68, ¶ 1. Of actions that deserve our attention, the most splendid are not always the greatest.
1784. Cowper, Task, V. 320. That thus he may procure His thousands, weary of penurious life, A splendid opportunity to die.
1819. Scott, Ivanhoe, xlii. For this service a splendid soul-scat was paid to the convent of Saint Edmund’s.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vii. II. 191. If a design was splendid, Mordaunt seldom inquired whether it were practicable.
1872. Morley, Voltaire (1886), 3. Luther and Calvin in their separate ways brought into splendid prominence their new ides of moral order.
b. Dignified, haughty, lordly.
1833. T. Hook, Parson’s Dau., I. v. A splendid contempt for female intellect.
4. Of persons: Illustrious, distinguished.
1647. Clarendon, Hist. Reb., I. § 196. He intended the Discipline of the Church … should be applied to the greatest and most splendid Transgressors.
1660. Guillim’s Heraldry (ed. 4), III. iii. 115. Which Family is not a little splendid by the actions of two persons of it.
5. Excellent; very good or fine.
1644. R. Baillie, Lett. & Jrnls. (1841), II. 215. Mr. Edwards hes written a splendid confutation of all Independents’ Apologie.
1849–50. Alison, Hist. Europe, XIV. xciv. § 4. 4. The summit of these ridges afforded a splendid position for the French artillery to fire upon the English guns.
1882. Proc. R. Geog. Soc., IV. 460. He was taught to be a splendid shot with the gun and with the bow.
6. Used, by way of contrast, to qualify nouns having an opposite or different connotation.
1667. Milton, P. L., II. 252. Our state Of splendid vassalage.
1714. R. Fiddes, Pract. Disc., II. 15. Even their best actions [are] no better than splendid sins.
1756. Burke, Subl. & B., Wks. 1842, I. 44. In many cases this splendid confusion would destroy all use.
1848. H. Rogers, Ess. (1874), I. vi. 294. Even the most successful crime is but a splendid misery.
1898. F. de Pressensé, in 19th Cent., April, 524. When she [Great Britain] gives, proudly, notice to the whole world of her splendid isolation.
