The Sparkling History of Scintillate

Hello,

This week’s word is scintillate. Turns out I don’t use this one often because I had to look up how to spell it (twice) but I like its etymology.

The most common use of scintillating I’ve heard lately is the idea of a group having a scintillating conversation. We’d all like to listen in to such chats.

But scintillation isn’t linked only to witty repartee. The word entered English in the early 1600s and was defined as to sparkle or twinkle. Yes, just like a star at the top of your Christmas tree, but in this case they were talking about real stars in the sky. The word came from Latin scintillare (to sparkle, gleam, flash, or glitter). I love the origin of scintilla in Latin – it’s a spark – that bright, brief glint of fire flashing out at us.

We still say somebody is “on fire” when their verbal dexterity is on top form so a link to a spark, or sparkling wit, does make sense. However it wasn’t until the 1750s that we used scintillating with that that figurative sense.

Now you know it’s up to you to cast this little fact into your next bout of scintillating conversation and light up your listeners.

Until next time happy reading, writing, and wordfooling,

Grace (@Wordfoolery)

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