Origin of sunbeamMiddle English sunnebem, from Old English sunneb&emacron;am (translation of Late Latin columna l&umacron;cis, pillar of light) : sunne, sun; see sun + b&emacron;am, tree, building post; see beam. Word History: Though the period of European history from the 5th to the 11th century is often called the Dark Ages, writers and scholars of the time in fact did much to preserve and extend the light of civilization. A minor but felicitous contribution to the English language from this period is the word sunbeam, which is believed to have entered English in the 9th century through the work of Alfred the Great. A scholar as well as a king, Alfred undertook and oversaw the translation of a number of Latin works into the English of his time, now known as Old English. Among these was The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, a work composed by the Venerable Bede. The Latin phrase columna l&umacron;cis, which we would today translate as “a column of light,” occurs several times in this work. Since the Old English translator did not have the word column in his vocabulary, he used b&emacron;am, which meant “a tree” or “a building post made from a tree” (our modern word beam). Columna l&umacron;cis thus became sunnebeam, or “sun post,” which survives as our sunbeam. Though perhaps less stately than “column of light,” sunbeam has brightened our language. From it the word beam alone came to mean “a ray or rays of light”; it subsequently also became a verb meaning “to radiate.”
- A visible, narrow, and intense (relative to ambient light) ray of sunlight.
- (Australia, colloquial, dated) An item of cutlery or crockery laid out on a table, but not used, and which can be returned to the drawer without being washed.
- Any butterfly of the genus Curetis.
- Any hummingbird of the genus Aglaeactis.