illuminate

[verb ih-loo-muh-neyt; adjective, noun ih-loo-muh-nit, -neyt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR illuminate ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), il·lu·mi·nat·ed, il·lu·mi·nat·ing.

to supply or brighten with light; light up.

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

to decorate with lights, as in celebration.

to enlighten, as with knowledge.

to make resplendent or illustrious: A smile illuminated her face.

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

verb (used without object), il·lu·mi·nat·ed, il·lu·mi·nat·ing.

to display lights, as in celebration.

to become illuminated.

adjective

Archaic. illuminated.

Obsolete. enlightened.

noun

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

Origin of illuminate

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin illūminātus (past participle of illūmināre to light up, brighten). See illumine, -ate¹

Related formsil·lu·mi·nat·ing·ly, adverbpre·il·lu·mi·nate, verb (used with object)re·il·lu·mi·nate, verb, re·il·lu·mi·nat·ed, re·il·lu·mi·nat·ing.sem·i-il·lu·mi·nat·ed, adjectiveun·il·lu·mi·nat·ed, adjective

Synonyms for illuminate

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR illuminate ON THESAURUS.COM

2. clarify, explain, elucidate.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for illuminate

flash, highlight, brighten, spotlight, elucidate, dramatize, clarify, illustrate, explain, define, ignite, illumine, irradiate, fire, light, lighten, spot, illume, kindle, floodlight

Examples from the Web for illuminate

Contemporary Examples of illuminate

These numbers portend to illuminate society-threatening failures within the current immigration enforcement system.
Inside The Center For Immigration Studies, The Immigration False-Fact Think Tank
Caitlin Dickson
May 15, 2014
Reading them will illuminate your own life and make it better.
What Sebastian Junger, Susan Orlean, and Others Are Reading This Fall
Byliner
November 7, 2013
Dispensing with some of the objections helps to illuminate this case.
The Case For Cutting Off Aid to Egypt
Ali Gharib
July 11, 2013
She has chosen to share her story in order to illuminate the endemic problem of sexual violence in India.
See Who’s Coming to Women in the World 2013: Speakers & Participants
March 6, 2013
Activists with flashlights should illuminate “vampires—foreign agents.”
Russia Uses ‘Foreign Agent’ Ruse to Crack Down on Memorial & Other NGOs
Anna Nemtsova
November 24, 2012

Historical Examples of illuminate

John groped vainly in mental depths for other experiences likely to illuminate this.
Tiverton Tales
Alice Brown
London was beginning to illuminate herself against the night.
Howards End
E. M. Forster
Not a dozen houses responded to the préfet's invitation to illuminate.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 18, No. 105, July 1866
Various
It was a sky the sun did not illuminate or enkindle, as is usual at sunsets.
A Pair of Blue Eyes
Thomas Hardy
Could you not illuminate that motto, Livy, 'Manners makyth man?'
Doctor Luttrell's First Patient
Rosa Nouchette Carey

British Dictionary definitions for illuminate

illuminate

verb (ɪˈluːmɪˌneɪt)

(tr) to throw light in or into; light upto illuminate a room

(tr) to make easily understood; clarify

to adorn, decorate, or be decorated with lights

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

(intr) to become lighted up

adjective (ɪˈluːmɪnɪt, -ˌneɪt)

archaic made clear or bright with light; illuminated

noun (ɪˈluːmɪnɪt, -ˌneɪt)

a person who has or claims to have special enlightenment

Derived Formsilluminative, adjectiveilluminator, noun

Word Origin for illuminate

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for illuminate

c.1500, "to light up, shine on," a back-formation from illumination, or else from Latin illuminatus, past participle of illuminare (see illumination). Earlier was enlumyen (late 14c.) "decorate written material with gold, silver, bright colors," from Old French enluminer, from Late Latin inluminare; also illumine (late 14c.). Related: Illuminated; illuminating.