Also 5–6 splendure, 7 -eur; 6– splendor. [ad. AF. (e)splendur, -our (OF. esplendor, etc.), or L. splendor, f. splendēre to shine. So F. splendeur, It. splendore, Sp. and Pg. esplendor.]
1. Great brightness; brilliant light or luster.
α. c. 1450. Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.), 191. In the sunne consydyr ȝe thynges thre, The splendure, the hete, and the lyght.
1600. Fairfax, Tasso, VII. xliv. When … The shining fort his goodly splendure losed.
1603. Holland, Plutarch’s Mor., 1188. Mixing splendeur and light together with the said deepe azure.
β. 1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 30. Lyke as the beame of the materyall sonne … causeth a splendour or bryghtnes.
1626. Bacon, Sylva, § 8. It may be, Percolation doth not only cause Clearness and Splendour, but Sweetness of Savour.
1698. Fryer, Acc. E. India & P., 128. The splendour of the Moon being shaded by the sides of the Mountains.
1782. Phil. Trans., LXXII. 427. The wax tapers took flame immediately with an uncommon splendour.
1825. Scott, Talism., vi. His bright blue eye, which at all times shone with uncommon keenness and splendour.
1898. F. T. Bullen, Cruise ‘Cachalot,’ 104. Slowly and solemnly the intruding gloom overspread the sweet splendour of the shining sky.
Comb. 1821. Shelley, Epipsych., 81. The splendour-winged stars.
1836. Browning, J. Agricola in Medit., 4. Splendour-proof I keep the broods of stars aloof.
γ. 1596. Drayton, Leg., Matilda, xxxv. Poems (1605), Ff vij b. Such bountie Nature did to them impart, Those lampes two planets, clearer then the seauen, That with their splendor light the world to heauen.
1597. J. Payne, Royal Exch., 47. He neyther saw that splendor and glory…, nor the heavens open.
1630. J. Taylor (Water P.), Praise Clean Linen, Wks. II. 169/2. ’Till Tytans glory from the burnish’d East … the rotundious Globe with splendor filles.
1684. Contempl. St. Man, I. ix. (1692), 232. A Wheel of Squibs and Fire-Works … casts forth a thousand lights and splendors.
1732. Arbuthnot, Rules of Diet, in Aliments, etc. I. 414. A certain Splendor or Shining in the Eyes, with a little moisture.
1782. Phil. Trans., LXXII. 199. Inflammable air is also the principle which … gives them their metallic splendor.
1871. B. Taylor, Faust, Prol. (1875), I. 11. And swift and swift beyond conceiving The splendor of the world goes round.
b. Her. (See quots.)
1766. Porny, Heraldry (1777), Dict., The Sun is said to be in Splendor when it is represented with the lineaments of a human face, and environed with raies.
1868. Cussans, Her. (1893), 102. The Sun is always supposed to be Proper, or In his Glory, or Splendour,… unless otherwise specified.
2. Magnificence; great show of riches or costly things; pomp, parade.
β. 1616. Fortescue Papers (Camden), 15. Whome the splendour of fortune hath not beene able to make … lesse vertuous.
1664. H. More, Myst. Iniq., 280. His purple Cardinals are so Emperor like and of such a senatorious splendour.
1732. Lediard, Sethos, II. VII. 48. Their ambassy appear’d in splendour before your haven.
1770. Goldsm., Des. Vill., 286. While thus the land adorned for pleasure all In barren splendour feebly waits the fall.
1837. Lockhart, Scott, I. ii. 63. The antique splendour of the ducal house.
1863. Miss Braddon, J. Marchmont’s Legacy, III. i. 8. Paul Marchmont was fond of splendour, and meant to have as much of it as money could buy.
1886. C. E. Pascoe, London of To-day, xxxi. (ed. 3), 286. Pall Mall, one of the most splendid streets in London, deriving its splendour from its club-houses.
personif. 1731. Pope, Ep. Burlington, 180. ’Tis Use alone that sanctifies Expense, And Splendour borrows all her rays from Sense.
γ. 1680. Burnet, Rochester, 91. A people naturally fond of a visible splendor in Religious Worship.
1713. Steele, Guardian, No. 19, ¶ 3. Riches and outward splendor have taken up the place of it.
1756–7. trans. Keysler’s Trav. (1760), II. 103. With regard to external splendor,… I am inclined to think that modern Rome is superior to the ancient.
1824. W. Irving, T. Trav., II. 104. Its [the carriage’s] faded embellishments spoke of former splendor.
1858. Hawthorne, Fr. & It. Jrnls., II. 98. Gold-laced cocked hats and other splendors.
3. Brilliant distinction, eminence or glory; impressive or imposing character.
1604. E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, VI. xxvi. 487. Monteçuma set Knighthood in his highest splendor.
1647. Clarendon, Hist. Reb., I. § 145. Without any other Friendship or Support, than what the splendour of a Pious life … would reconcile to him.
1750. Johnson, Rambler, No, 72, ¶ 10. Excellencies of higher reputation and brighter splendour.
1830. D’Israeli, Chas. I., III. ix. 196. The splendour of the present progress had not hitherto been equalled in our annals.
1875. Hamerton, Intell. Life, II. ii. 62. The splendour of the intellectual light.
4. Brilliant or ornate appearance or coloring. Also Comb.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1824), II. 349. A very extensive tribe, remarkable for the splendour and the variety of their plumage.
1820. Shelley, Witch Atl., iii. Like splendour-winged moths.
1854. trans. Hettner’s Athens, 18. The Attic plain lies before us in a splendour and beauty, to describe which the forms and colours of the painter are powerless.
