illuminate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
illuminates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
illuminated,
past participle, past
-
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
-
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:
"Studies like this help illuminate potential pathways through which lived experiences and social factors influence long-term health outcomes."
From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2026
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
Famously hailed as a “ribbon of light,” the bridge has been dark for more than a year after thieves ripped off more than seven miles of copper wire that helped illuminate its arches.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 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
Either he’d been too focused on Nanuq to see the bay before, or they’d needed the Aurora Borealis to illuminate it.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
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
The moon over the big red barn illuminates the open field.
From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers
Trackless trains, their carriages mocked up as reindeer, ferried kids around a giant illuminated orb.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
The atmosphere also appears to move heat from the permanently illuminated dayside toward the nightside, further reducing temperatures on the star-facing side.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2026
Adjusting which fin receives light and how frequently it is illuminated allows the team to control both its speed and direction.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 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
It illuminated the green expanse between trees and the rocky outcroppings that marked the start of our camp.
From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline
He digs into a topic, in this case gun violence in America, illuminating unexpected causes and prodding at assumptions that perpetuate what he refers to as a gun violence “epidemic.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026
They then moved a light source by hand, illuminating the fins to guide the robot through a maze positioned inside the dish.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2026
Thunder and lightning have boomed across Marseille following the weekend's mayhem, illuminating the cracked windows and boarded-up doors of hundreds of businesses that were smashed as protests gave way to disorder.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 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
The fading light of day shone through the cave’s opening, barely illuminating the darkness around us.
From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn
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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.
