Emily Dickinson Lexicon

LOOM, v.i. [Qu. Sax. leoman, to shine, from leoma, a beam of light. This does not give the exact sense of the word as now used.]

1. To appear above the surface either of sea or land, or to appear larger than the real dimensions and indistinctly; as a distant object, a ship at sea, or a mountain. The ship looms large, or the land looms high. – Mar. Dict.
2. To rise and to be eminent, in a moral sense. On no occasion does he, (Paul,) loom so high and shine so gloriously, as in the context. – J. M. Mason.