illumine

American  

[ih-loo-min] / ɪˈlu mɪn /

verb (used with or without object)

• illumines,
  present (3rd person singular)
• illumined,
  past participle,  past
• illumining
  present participle

1. to illuminate.

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illumine British  

/ ɪˈluːmɪn /

verb

1. a literary word for illuminate

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• illuminable
  adjective
• self-illumined
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• illumining
  present
• illumined
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• illumine
  simple
• illumines
  simple
• have illumined
  perfect
• has illumined
  perfect
• am illumining
  progressive
• are illumining
  progressive
• is illumining
  progressive
• have been illumining
  perfect progressive
• has been illumining
  perfect progressive

Past

• illumined
  simple
• had illumined
  perfect
• was illumining
  progressive
• were illumining
  progressive
• had been illumining
  perfect progressive

Future

• will illumine
  simple
• will have illumined
  perfect
• will be illumining
  progressive
• will have been illumining
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of illumine

1300–50; Middle English illuminen < Latin illūmināre to light up, equivalent to il- il- ¹ + lūmin- (stem of lūmen ) light + -ā- thematic vowel + -re infinitive suffix

Explanation

To illumine is to shine a light on something, literally or figuratively. Your desk lamp might illumine the page of your book, while the words you're reading illumine your mind. This literary term is a more poetic way of saying "illuminate," though its original meaning was the figurative "enlighten spiritually." It's a graceful verb to use when you're talking about light that shines or glows: "The dancing candlelight cheerfully illumines the dim room." It's also useful for describing ideas that spark an intellectual or spiritual understanding: "It's the first time I've read philosophy that truly illumines my perception."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

illumine illumines illumined illumining

The non-narrative videos, which may well come to be regarded as the Sistine Chapel of video art, projected onto epic screens above the orchestra and singers, serve not to illumine Wagner’s drama but his intent.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 14, 2022

Those “if”s, those two counterfactuals, help illumine the precise borders of the crime.

From The New Yorker ● Apr. 17, 2019

It’s not quite the case that the people Faye meets illumine various facets of Faye herself—she remains a cipher, however much we might want to speculate about her.

From Slate ● Jan. 23, 2017

One 1721 image here shows a providential eye peering through the clouds of a storm, beams of light streaming downward to illumine an embattled ship.

From New York Times ● Aug. 18, 2010

A sun that was to illumine a world to come.

From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes

It illumines the lives of several remarkable people who made the changes happen.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 27, 2022

This “Frankenstein” illumines the ultimate “outcast” and could also be interpreted as a metaphysical corollary to Sharon’s “Flute.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 19, 2019

In the case of Arp, a revolutionary figure in modernism’s movements of abstraction, Dadaism and Surrealism, this complementary group show illumines just how foundational and remarkably inimitable Arp’s abstractions really are.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2018

The fading light of dusk illumines an abandoned building in Terra Amarilla, New Mexico.

From National Geographic ● Oct. 31, 2015

How can I make you see it, this strange harsh light which pervades Homer’s landscapes and illumines the dialogues of Plato, an alien light, inarticulable in our common tongue?

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

The fog of war obscures even the most illumined conscience.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 14, 2023

Their letters — enraptured and captivating but not written for literate sharing — were further illumined in Puts’ score, emphasizing the obvious with grandeur and sentiment.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2022

His life was illumined by a series of extraordinary spiritual visions.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 27, 2017

“Marianne Faithfull’s ‘Memories, Dreams and Reflections’ is a gem; her luminous words light up the book’s portraits and events in the way ‘Luncheon of the Boating Party’ is illumined by Renoir’s colors.

From New York Times ● May 30, 2017

I was still arguing with her when the taxi pulled up at the curb, long slants of rain illumined in the headlights and the tires throwing up low fans of water.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

Most writers were unable to see life whole, and unsatisfied with illumining only fragments of it.

From Time Magazine Archive

While illumining my upward path, she seems to beckon me higher and yet higher.

From The Catholic World; Volume I, Issues 1-6 A Monthly Eclectic Magazine by E. Rameur

One of the number, seeing that we were strangers, and probably guessing at our bewilderment, kindly approached, and, with quiet pride illumining his fine old face, volunteered an explanation of the exciting scene before us.

From The Fortunate Isles Life and Travel in Majorca, Minorca and Iviza by Mary Stuart Boyd

From the low roof swung a lantern, casting strange shadows around the open space, faintly illumining Menotah's happy face, and at times the rugged features of her companion.

From Menotah A Tale of the Riel Rebellion by Ernest G. Henham

The moon waxed slowly in brightness, illumining the two figures.

From The Secret of Lonesome Cove by Samuel Hopkins Adams