Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Loom \Loom\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Loomed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Looming}.] [OE. lumen to shine, Icel. ljoma; akin to AS.
   le['o]ma light, and E. light; or cf. OF. lumer to shine, L.
   luminare to illumine, lumen light; akin to E. light. ? See
   {Light} not dark.]
   1. To appear above the surface either of sea or land, or to
      appear enlarged, or distorted and indistinct, as a distant
      object, a ship at sea, or a mountain, esp. from
      atmospheric influences; as, the ship looms large; the land
      looms high.

            Awful she looms, the terror of the main. --H. J.
                                                  Pye.

   2. To rise and to be eminent; to be elevated or ennobled, in
      a moral sense.

            On no occasion does he [Paul] loom so high, and
            shine so gloriously, as in the context. --J. M.
                                                  Mason.