luminaria
noun
-ˈnär-
Aurelio SanchezKate NelsonAnnie CalovichJulia Kazar 
Did you know?
The tradition of lighting small lanterns on the night (or nights) before Christmas is an old one in what is now New Mexico, dating back to when the region belonged to colonial Spain and later to independent Mexico. Where one lives in New Mexico today, however, often determines what these paper lanterns are called. New Mexicans in the northern part of the state, around Santa Fe, call them farolitos, Spanish for “little lanterns.” Those further south, around Albuquerque, are more likely to call them luminaria (or luminarias), a word that began appearing in English publications around the 1930s, and that is today used more broadly to refer to such lanterns lit for other occasions, such as memorials, weddings, etc. Luminaria comes to English from Spanish, but the word has been around with exactly the same spelling since the days of Late Latin. It ultimately traces to the classical Latin word luminare, meaning “window,” and to lumen, meaning “light.” It is related to other light-bearing words such as luminary and illuminate.
Examples of luminaria in a Sentence
Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 15 Nov. 2024
Make sure to check out the luminarias, glowing Christmas lanterns that make up a favorite local tradition.
—Anna Borges, Condé Nast Traveler, 9 Nov. 2023
The luminaria will start to be lit around 3:30 p.m., with the town glowing by sunset.
—Brenda Yenke, cleveland, 10 Nov. 2022
And for many years, the Medina Breakfast Kiwanis has offered a great kit that gives buyers supplies to make 12 luminaria.
—Sam Boyer, cleveland, 11 Nov. 2022
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Cite this Entry
“Luminaria.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/luminaria. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.
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