illumination

[ih-loo-muh-ney-shuhn]

noun

1. an act or instance of illuminating. illuminating.

2. the fact or condition of being illuminated.

3. a decoration of lights, usually colored lights.

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

5. intellectual or spiritual enlightenment.

   Synonyms: wisdom, insight, revelation, knowledge

6. Also called illuminance. Also called 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.

7. a supply of light.

   a source of illumination.

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

9. a design used in such decoration.

illumination

/ ɪˌluːmɪˈneɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of illuminating or the state of being illuminated

2. a source of light

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

4. spiritual or intellectual enlightenment; insight or understanding

5. the act of making understood; clarification

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

7. physics another name (not in technical usage) for illuminance

Other Word Forms

• illuminational adjective
• nonillumination noun
• preillumination noun
• reillumination noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of illumination¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Medieval Latin illūminātiōn-, stem of illūminātiō “spiritual enlightenment,” from Latin: “illustriousness, glory”; illuminate ( def. ), -ion ( def. )

Example Sentences

His company has been developing illumination with higher-than-usual amounts of blue-enriched light, using faux windows that give the illusion of a blue sky outside and faux skylights that show blue sky with a virtual sun.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Owenna Griffiths, editor of Today, said: "In a rapidly changing world, this year's guest editors will help bring illumination and understanding".

Read more on BBC

The duke died in 1416, long before the book was finished; so did the three artists he selected for the illumination, all within months of one another.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

And while Disneyland’s early evening tree lighting tends to draw a crowd, you’ll want to make your way to Fantasyland at 5 p.m. for the nighttime illumination of the It’s a Small World facade.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

From a novel starring a sentient gale-force wind, on to a memoir from a leading African American writer, this month’s titles provide illumination as we lose daylight.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• brightness