illumination

[ ih-loo-muh-ney-shuhn ]

/ ɪˌlu məˈneɪ ʃən /

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noun

an act or instance of illuminating.

the fact or condition of being illuminated.

a decoration of lights, usually colored lights.

Sometimes illuminations. an entertainment, display, or celebration using lights as a major feature or decoration.

intellectual or spiritual enlightenment.

Also called illuminance, intensity of illumination. Optics. the intensity of light falling at a given place on a lighted surface; the luminous flux incident per unit area, expressed in lumens per unit of area.

a supply of light: a source of illumination.

decoration of a manuscript or book with a painted design in color, gold, etc.

a design used in such decoration.

Nearby words

illuminance, illuminant, illuminate, illuminati, illuminating, illumination, illuminative, illuminator, illumine, illuminism, illuminometer

Origin of illumination

1300–50; Middle English < Medieval Latin illūminātiōn- (stem of illūminātiō) spiritual enlightenment (Latin: illustriousness, glory) See illuminate, -ion

SYNONYMS FOR illumination

5 knowledge, revelation, insight, wisdom.

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Related forms

il·lu·mi·na·tion·al, adjectivenon·il·lu·mi·na·tion, nounpre·il·lu·mi·na·tion, nounre·il·lu·mi·na·tion, noun

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

Examples from the Web for illumination

The book is fascinating partly for its illumination of the origins of current conventions.
How the News Business Found Its Footing|Nick Romeo|June 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Rather than selective filtering for purposes of justification, information is instead used as the fuel for illumination.
What Hockey Players Can Teach our Toothless Politicians|Dave Maney|April 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Consider the opening of the first illumination, “After the Flood:”
When Your Hero’s an SOB|Bruce Duffy|August 1, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Here are five of my favorite moments of illumination from the book.
Cheap Therapy|Neil Strauss|March 21, 2011|DAILY BEAST

Romme, a mystical republican, infused into her mind the German spirit of illumination.
History of the Girondists, Volume I|Alphonse de Lamartine
Green earth and blue sky were so much shelter and illumination to its pure and solitary joy.
The Helpmate|May Sinclair
It was an illumination, as Morton said, upon that pitiful thing we call 'class.'
The Best Short Stories of 1917|Various
The thanksgivings of yesterday are poor when considered in the illumination of to-day.
The Expositor's Bible: The Epistles of St. Peter|J. Rawson Lumby
The barrels were piled high, so that the illumination could be seen a long distance.
The Putnam Hall Rivals|Arthur M. Winfield

British Dictionary definitions for illumination

illumination

/ (ɪˌluːmɪˈneɪʃən) /

noun

the act of illuminating or the state of being illuminated

a source of light

(often plural) mainly British a light or lights, esp coloured lights, used as decoration in streets, parks, etc

spiritual or intellectual enlightenment; insight or understanding

the act of making understood; clarification

decoration in colours, gold, or silver used on some manuscripts or printed works

physics another name (not in technical usage) for illuminance

Derived Forms

illuminational, adjective

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

illumination

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of illumination

SYNONYMS FOR illumination

Related forms

Examples from the Web for illumination

British Dictionary definitions for illumination

illumination

noun

Derived Forms