Beamed

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Sent out rays of light or shone brightly ; smiled with joy or pride ; transmitted information or signals ; made a structure sturdily using long pieces of wood or metal
2. Emitted bright light in a focused manner ; expressed happiness or warmth through facial expression ; communicated data or messages over a distance ; built something supported by strong horizontal pieces
3. Radiated visible light strongly or steadily ; showed delight or happiness visibly ; conveyed transmissions electronically or otherwise ; erected with supporting beams for strength and stability

Etymology: The verb "beamed" started out as a word for shining, and only later came to mean smiling. Its Old English ancestor, "bēamian," meant "to shine, to cast forth rays or beams of light." The noun it grew from, "bēam," originally meant "tree," and the same root gives German "Baum," Dutch "boom," and Gothic "bagms," all meaning tree. The shift from tree to light happened through the wooden beams of a building: a beam was a timber, and light was a ray cast forth like a beam of wood. So a smile that "beamed" is a face that gives off light. The verb came to describe a face or expression brightening with pleasure, as if it were radiating. The noun's old sense survives in a few compounds, such as "quickbeam," a name for the rowan tree.

Synonyms: radiated, shone