brilliant

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brilliant

1. (of a colour) having a high saturation and reflecting a considerable amount of light; vivid
2. Music (of the tone of an instrument) having a large proportion of high harmonics above the fundamental
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

brilliant

A term used to describe armaments that are not only smart (i.e., capable of precision guidance) but that can be reprogrammed in air, if required. Brilliant munitions guide themselves to the target without any external guidance or inputs.
An Illustrated Dictionary of Aviation Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

Brilliant

One of five pedagogical languages based on Markov algorithms, used in ["Nonpareil, a Machine Level Machine Independent Language for the Study of Semantics", B. Higman, ULICS Intl Report No ICSI 170, U London (1968)].

See also Diamond, Nonpareil, Pearl, Ruby.
This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Brilliant

 

a diamond that has been cut to a specific form (the so-called brilliant cut), with a specific number of facets, bringing out the maximum natural brilliance of the stone. Such a cut is also applied to other stones, such as rock crystal and topaz. The form of the brilliant cut is a combination of two pyramids, one of which (the upper) is truncated. The facets of the crown and pavilion are arranged in several tiers. A triple tier is common (the so-called triple brilliant cut). In classical gem cutting, the diamond has 56 lateral facets. The facets are placed in such a way that a parallel light beam falling on the surface of the gem is subjected to total reflection within the diamond. The light thus reflected is refracted into the rays of the spectrum because of the high light dispersion in the diamond. Thus, in reflected light a brilliant sparkles with all the colors of the rainbow.

Brilliants are used in jewelry making: they are mounted in settings of precious metals, either singly (most often in rings, earrings, and cufflinks) or in groups, forming separate elements or the entire basis of the composition of a piece of jewelry (such as a brooch or tiara). Brilliants adorn certain metals and higher orders of distinction (such as the Order of Victory and the Marshal’s Star). The mass of a brilliant is measured in carats.

IU. D. AKSENTON

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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At this door, in the embrasure of which he was leaning, he saw, standing out strongly, a figure with a brown and lofty countenance, an aquiline nose, a stern but brilliant eye, gray and long hair, a black mustache, the true type of military beauty, whose gorget, more sparkling than a mirror, broke all the reflected lights which concentrated upon it, and sent them back as lightning.
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Her anger had a good effect, however, for she hid it under a smiling face, and seemed unusually blithe and brilliant. Laurie's eyes followed her with pleasure, for she neither romped nor sauntered, but danced with spirit and grace, making the delightsome pastime what it should be.
"My rouge won't come off." And Amy rubbed her brilliant cheek, and showed him her white glove with a sober simplicity that made him laugh outright.
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They're called "brilliants," and since 1980, one percent of people have been born this way.
"A Better World": The brilliants changed everything.
The Brilliance Trilogy
In this newly created position, Mihalick adds to the breadth and depth of Brilliants technical team.
Brilliant Group, Inc., a specialist in fluorescent colors headquartered in Richmond, CA, announced the addition of three members to its growing technical team.
Brilliant Group adds three to growing technical team
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the Julius Onah directed movie, which is an adaptation of Marcus Sakey's novel, shows a world where a limited number of people who are born with extraordinary abilities are called 'brilliants'.
34-year-old Rapace will play a 'brilliant', recognized as a terrorist by the government, along with Smith, who will be playing a federal agent and another such brilliant, who hunts down terrorist and intends to start the civil war.
Noomi Rapace may join Will Smith in `Brilliance`

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