Limelights

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A source of intense public attention or fame, often associated with entertainment or performance
2. A spotlight that focuses on someone or something, typically highlighting their prominence in a social context
3. The center of attention or acclaim, especially in contexts involving artistic or notable achievements

Etymology: "Limelights" is the plural of "limelight," so it is simply the word's plural form, and the sense is the same as the singular: the spotlight of public attention. The singular has a literal origin. In the 1820s, stage lighting relied on candles and oil lamps, and the brighter option was the "limelight," invented around 1825 by the Scottish-born Thomas Drummond, which heated a cylinder of lime (calcium oxide) in an oxyhydrogen flame until it glowed with an intense white light. Theatres used it to pick out a performer on stage, so being "in the limelight" literally meant standing in that beam. The figurative use followed quickly. By the mid-nineteenth century, writers were using "in the limelight" for anyone who drew public notice, and the plural "limelights" appears in the same figurative sense, usually for several people or several occasions of attention. The word's history is thus a clean case of a technical lighting term becoming a common metaphor for fame.

Synonyms: spotlights, attention