brilliant
    adj 1: of surpassing excellence; "a brilliant performance"; "a
           superb actor" [syn: brilliant, superb]
    2: having or marked by unusual and impressive intelligence;
       "some men dislike brainy women"; "a brilliant mind"; "a
       brilliant solution to the problem" [syn: brainy,
       brilliant, smart as a whip]
    3: characterized by grandeur; "the brilliant court life at
       Versailles"; "a glorious work of art"; "magnificent
       cathedrals"; "the splendid coronation ceremony" [syn:
       brilliant, glorious, magnificent, splendid]
    4: having striking color; "bright dress"; "brilliant
       tapestries"; "a bird with vivid plumage" [syn: bright,
       brilliant, vivid]
    5: full of light; shining intensely; "a brilliant star";
       "brilliant chandeliers"
    6: clear and sharp and ringing; "the bright sound of the trumpet
       section"; "the brilliant sound of the trumpets" [syn:
       bright, brilliant]

Brilliant \Bril"liant\ (br[i^]l"yant), a. [F. brillant, p. pr.
   of briller to shine or sparkle (cf. Pr. & Sp. brillar, It.
   brillare), fr. L. beryllus a precious stone of sea-green
   color, Prov. It. brill. See Beryl.]
   1. Sparkling with luster; glittering; very bright; as, a
      brilliant star.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Distinguished by qualities which excite admiration;
      splendid; shining; as, brilliant talents.
      [1913 Webster]

            Washington was more solicitous to avoid fatal
            mistakes than to perform brilliant exploits.
                                                  --Fisher Ames.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Exceedingly intelligent, or of distinguished
      accomplishment in a field; -- as, a brilliant chemist.
      [PJC]

   Syn: See Shining.
        [1913 Webster]

Brilliant \Bril"liant\, n. [F. brillant. See Brilliant, a.]
   1. A diamond or other gem of the finest cut, formed into
      faces and facets, so as to reflect and refract the light,
      by which it is rendered more brilliant. It has at the
      middle, or top, a principal face, called the table, which
      is surrounded by a number of sloping facets forming a
      bizet; below, it has a small face or collet, parallel to
      the table, connected with the girdle by a pavilion of
      elongated facets. It is thus distinguished from the rose
      diamond, which is entirely covered with facets on the
      surface, and is flat below.
      [1913 Webster]

            This snuffbox -- on the hinge see brilliants shine.
                                                  --Pope.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Print.) The smallest size of type used in England
      printing.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. A kind of cotton goods, figured on the weaving.
      [1913 Webster]

Brilliant

   One of five pedagogical languages based on Markov
   algorithms, used in ["Nonpareil, a Machine Level Machine
   Independent Language for the Study of Semantics", B. Higman,
   ULICS Intl Report No ICSI 170, U London (1968)].

   See also Diamond, Nonpareil, Pearl, Ruby.

Brilliant, AL -- U.S. town in Alabama
   Population (2000):    762
   Housing Units (2000): 402
   Land area (2000):     3.437389 sq. miles (8.902796 sq. km)
   Water area (2000):    0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km)
   Total area (2000):    3.437389 sq. miles (8.902796 sq. km)
   FIPS code:            09424
   Located within:       Alabama (AL), FIPS 01
   Location:             34.022764 N, 87.767372 W
   ZIP Codes (1990):     35548
   Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
   Headwords:
    Brilliant, AL
    Brilliant