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lumière

light

noun loo-MYEHR Common

Usage Note

Lumière is used both literally (sunlight, lamplight) and figuratively (the light of knowledge). The plural les Lumières refers specifically to the Enlightenment — France's 18th-century philosophical movement that profoundly shaped Western thought. The brothers Lumière famously invented the cinematograph in 1895.

Examples

"La lumière du soleil est douce."

Natural Translation

The sunlight is gentle.

Literal Translation

The light of the sun is gentle.

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