Limn

By Deane Barker tags: definition

Definition: to illustrate a text; to “paint a picture” with words

Some definitions describe the literary usage as “archaic.” (Though I encountered it in a modern context – see below.)

It’s somewhat derived from “illuminate” in Old English.

Why I Looked It Up

In the book flap for Andre Agassi’s autobiography, Open:

Never before has the inner game of tennis and the outer game of fame been so precisely limned.

Links from this – Open March 31, 2022
This is a compelling auto-biography. It reads fast and stays interesting. Agassi claims to hate tennis. His father groomed him to be a tennis player, and the stories he tells of his childhood border on abuse. He grew up hating the game. But he dropped out of school in the 9th grade, so that’s all...