illuminate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
illuminates,
present (3rd person singular)
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illuminated,
past participle, past
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illuminating
present participle
-
to supply or brighten with light; light up.
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to make lucid or clear; throw light on (a subject).
-
to decorate with lights, as in celebration.
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to enlighten, as with knowledge.
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to make resplendent or illustrious.
A smile illuminated her face.
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to decorate (a manuscript, book, etc.) with colors and gold or silver, as was often done in the Middle Ages.
verb (used without object)
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illuminates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
illuminated,
past participle, past
-
illuminating
present participle
-
to display lights, as in celebration.
-
to become illuminated.
adjective
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Archaic. illuminated.
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Obsolete. enlightened.
noun
verb
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(tr) to throw light in or into; light up
to illuminate a room
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(tr) to make easily understood; clarify
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to adorn, decorate, or be decorated with lights
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(tr) to decorate (a letter, page, etc) by the application of colours, gold, or silver
-
(intr) to become lighted up
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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illuminatornoun
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reilluminateverb
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preilluminateverb (used with object)
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illuminativeadjective
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semi-illuminatedadjective
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unilluminatedadjective
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illuminatinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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illuminatesimple
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illuminatessimple
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have illuminatedperfect
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has illuminatedperfect
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am illuminatingprogressive
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are illuminatingprogressive
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is illuminatingprogressive
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have been illuminatingperfect progressive
-
has been illuminatingperfect progressive
Past
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illuminatedsimple
-
had illuminatedperfect
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was illuminatingprogressive
-
were illuminatingprogressive
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had been illuminatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of illuminate
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin illūminātus, past participle of illūmināre “to light up, brighten”; see illumine ( def. ), -ate 1 ( def. )
Explanation
To illuminate is to light up — with physical light or with an idea. A spotlight might illuminate an actor on stage, and a good chemistry teacher might illuminate students with a lesson on the atomic structure of hydrogen. Originally, the verb illuminate referred to decorating handwritten manuscripts with bright lettering or pictures. Monks illuminated manuscripts with colors like gold, silver, bright red, and blue. Nowadays you can illuminate anything in the dark — either literally or figuratively. If you are afraid of the dark, illuminate your bedroom. In the dark when it comes to organic chemistry? Get an illuminating tutor.
Vocabulary lists containing illuminate
100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know
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Let There Be Light: Lum and Luc
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Essential Academic Vocabulary for Middle School Students, List 4
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
What, if anything, about this documentary may help illuminate a few things for people, regardless of their political leanings, as we approach the midterms?
From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2026
But this year may also illuminate broader forces that continue to resonate long after votes are counted.
From Slate ● Oct. 2, 2026
Together, these observations reveal how jets can alter or illuminate gas at tremendous distances from a galaxy's center.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026
It was submitted by Dr Ning Xu, a researcher at Tsinghua University in China, who used a series of complicated light waves to illuminate different parts of the sample in colour.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
The gene—the fundamental unit of heredity—must also be made of subunits, he reasoned, and the structure of DNA should illuminate these subunits.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
A laser illuminates a cell, causing tiny structures inside it to scatter some of the incoming light.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026
It’s worth thinking about because it illuminates the principles that we should be applying to questions of governance in this country.
From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2026
This is the synergy that illuminates their atmospheric approach to the Afro-Cuban jazz tradition.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
This group portrait, by Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy, a British-born history professor at the University of Virginia, illuminates the mistakes of Britain’s war leaders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
There’s no breeze, my white curtains are like gauze bandages, hanging limp, glimmering in the aura cast by the searchlight that illuminates this house at night, or is there a moon?
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
The observations provide valuable information about WASP-17b's atmospheric chemistry and temperature variations, including differences between its equator and poles and between its permanently illuminated and dark hemispheres.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
Residents across the UK were left stunned as the sky was illuminated by the spectacular colours of the Northern Lights on Friday and Saturday evenings.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
Oxygen ions produce bright emission lines when illuminated by massive stars, which makes them comparatively easy to detect.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 24, 2026
The panel is filled with illuminated diamond shapes, a longstanding motif in the company’s designs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
Now all the other nook statues came to illuminated life and started shouting.
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
It is Mungiu’s sharpest and most illuminating maneuver.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
Nobel Prize-winning American researcher Karl Deisseroth is a psychiatrist, neuroscientist and bioengineer who has spent more than two decades illuminating the workings of the brain to unlock its mysteries.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
Rather than behaving like a lamp illuminating everything around it, the jet acts more like a concentrated beam that causes gas to glow along its path.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026
He adds that it is also not illuminating concerns about a material inflation shock or other macro/geopolitical shock, as those are accounted for by the term premium, which has also moved sideways of late.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
It flared and flamed, illuminating the inside of the hall.
From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
