‖ éclat
(ekla)
[Fr. éclat, OF. esclat, related to éclater, OF. esclater to burst, burst out. The senses occuring in Eng. use are taken (with more or less accuracy) directly from Fr. In 18th c. and first half of the 19th c. the word was in much more frequent use than it has been subsequently. (Sometimes ignorantly written éclât.)
The OF. esclater = Pr., Cat. esclatar is usually believed to be ad. WGer. *slait-an, causative of *slîtan; see slit. The Teutonic sl- became in Romanic scl-, to which the usual euphonic e- before initial s + cons. was afterwards prefixed. The Fr. n. has also the sense of ‘splinter’, and its early form, or a synonymous fem. (e)sclate, is the source of Eng. slate.]
† 1. Brilliancy, radiance, dazzling effect (in lit. sense or with conscious metaphor). Obs.
| 1676 G. Etherege Man of Mode iii. ii (1684) 36 The Eclat of so much beauty..ought To have charm'd me sooner. 1749 U. ap Rhys Tour Spain & Port. (1760) 5 There was the greatest Eclat of Beauty and Finery imaginable. 1784 J. Barry Lect. Art v. (1848) 180 The sun is so concealed by clouds as to give no particular eclat to that part of the hemisphere. 1835 Kirby Hab. & Inst. Anim. I. v. 183 They [the polypes] strike the beholder by the eclat of petal-like animals with which their branches are covered. |
† 2. Public display, ostentation; notoriety, publicity; concr. a public exposure, scandal, ‘scene’. to make an éclat: to ‘make a noise in the world’, create a sensation.
| a 1674 Clarendon Hist. Reb. III. xii. 223 He was then a man of eclat, had many servants. 1753 Hanway Trav. (1762) II. ii. i. 68 A disposition inclined to the submissive, is not that which makes the greatest eclat. 1795 T. Jefferson Writ. (1859) IV. 114 Not to commit the honor..of your college, by an useless act of eclat. 1823 Byron Juan xiv. lx, With the kind view of saving an éclat. |
3. ‘Lustre’ of reputation; social distinction; celebrity, renown. In 19th c. often in disparaging sense: ‘false glitter’, showy brilliancy.
| 1742 Middleton Cicero ii. vi. 70 Cæsar..by the eclat of his victories, seemed to rival the fame of Pompey. 1807 G. Gregory Dict. Arts & Sc. I. 330/1 He..gave chemistry an eclat which it did not before possess. 1823 Byron Age of Bronze xvi, Montmorenci..Turns a diplomatist of great éclat. 1847 Mrs. Sherwood Lady of Manor II. x. 44 The glitter and eclat of foreign levity. |
b. Conspicuous success; universal applause, acclamation. Chiefly in phr. with (great) éclat.
| 1741 Warburton Div. Legat. II. 37 note, Professed with the greatest eclat. 1787 ‘G. Gambado’ Acad. Horsem. 41 Thus..you go off with eclat. 1798 T. Jefferson Writ. (1859) IV. 250 Marshall was received here with the utmost eclat. 1810 Byron To H. Drury 3 May, We get on with great éclat. |