[Fr. éclat, OF. esclat, related to éclater, OF. esclater to burst, burst out. The senses occurring 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. sb. 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. Etheredge, Man of Mode, III. ii. (1684), 36. The Eclat of so much beauty … ought To have charm’d me sooner.
1749. Udal 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. ‘Luster’ of reputation; social distinction; celebrity, renown. In 19th c. often in disparaging sense: ‘false glitter,’ showy brilliancy.
1742. C. Middleton, Cicero, II. vi. 70. Cæsar … by the eclat of his victories, seemed to rival the fame of Pompey himself.
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.
