illuminate

[ih-loo-muh-neyt, ih-loo-muh-nit, -neyt]

verb (used with object)

illuminated, illuminating 

1. to supply or brighten with light; light up.

2. to make lucid or clear; throw light on (a subject).

   Synonyms: elucidate, explain, clarify

3. to decorate with lights, as in celebration.

4. to enlighten, as with knowledge.

5. to make resplendent or illustrious.

   A smile illuminated her face.

6. to decorate (a manuscript, book, etc.) with colors and gold or silver, as was often done in the Middle Ages.

verb (used without object)

illuminated, illuminating 

1. to display lights, as in celebration.

2. to become illuminated.

adjective

1. Archaic.,  illuminated.

2. Obsolete.,  enlightened.

noun

1. Archaic.,  a person who is or affects to be specially enlightened.

illuminate

verb

1. (tr) to throw light in or into; light up

   to illuminate a room

2. (tr) to make easily understood; clarify

3. to adorn, decorate, or be decorated with lights

4. (tr) to decorate (a letter, page, etc) by the application of colours, gold, or silver

5. (intr) to become lighted up

adjective

1. archaic,  made clear or bright with light; illuminated

noun

1. a person who has or claims to have special enlightenment

Other Word Forms

• illuminatingly adverb
• preilluminate verb (used with object)
• reilluminate verb
• semi-illuminated adjective
• unilluminated adjective
• illuminator noun
• illuminative adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of illuminate¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin illūminātus, past participle of illūmināre “to light up, brighten”; illumine ( def. ), -ate ¹ ( def. )

Word History and Origins

Origin of illuminate¹

C16: from Latin illūmināre to light up, from lūmen light

Example Sentences

This new design could illuminate the future of phone and computer screens as well as other lighting applications, all while minimizing sleep disruption caused by harsh artificial light.

Read more on Science Daily

The letters illuminate the consistency of Updike’s fiction aesthetic.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

At appropriate points, a model of the annex and vitrines with correspondence related to the Frank family’s U.S. immigration attempts and other artifacts are briefly illuminated—but behind viewers, so easy to miss.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

There is an illuminating chapter on the misleading and exaggerated claims about protein.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Nigerian Modernism runs at the Tate Modern from Wednesday until 10 May next year, and hopes to illuminate a movement that has long been underrepresented on the global stage.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• clarify 
• define 
• dramatize 
• elucidate 
• explain 
• illustrate