éclat

brilliance, shine, lustre; fragment; Strong reaction; scandal; clap, peal, burst (of thunder, laughter); tinder, kindling

“On ne saurait soutenir l’éclat du soleil.” — The brilliance of the sun cannot be sustained.

Deverbal from éclater (“to burst”), from Middle French esclater (“to break, break violently”), from Old French esclater (“to separate from, sunder out”) (deverbal also in Old French esclat), from Frankish *slaitan (“to split, break”), from Proto-Germanic *slaitijaną, causative of Proto-Germanic *slītaną (“to cut up, split”). Akin to Old High German sleizan (“to tear”), Old English slītan (“to split”). More at slice, slit, slate, slat.