illumination

American  

[ih-loo-muh-ney-shuhn] / ɪˌlu məˈneɪ ʃən /

noun

• illuminations
  plural

1. an act or instance of 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.

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illumination British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• illuminations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of illumination

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

Explanation

Illumination is light. Kids up past their bedtimes have been known to read entire books under their covers using only the illumination from a flashlight. Use the noun illumination to talk about light, like the illumination of the moon on the surface of a lake. Illumination can also refer to an understanding or a spiritual awareness, like when a mystery of your faith suddenly makes sense to you. The Latin root is illuminationem, "throw into light" — you can picture the light bulb over a person's head in a cartoon to remember the various meaning of illumination.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

illumination illuminations

Maybe a young Mexican singer could shed some illumination, I thought, before sending a somewhat incoherent email to Silvana Estrada.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

Despite the high degree of coverage, "even 7% of the sun will still give quite a degree of illumination," he explained.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

Under visible-light illumination in an aqueous solution, the nanoreactor achieved an H2O2 photosynthesis rate of 3.24 mmol gcat.-1 h-1.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026

Actually, the fineness of the design is probably best appreciated at night, with its full plumage of illumination switched on.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 16, 2026

“All weekend,” I say, by way of illumination.

From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon

Its velvet binding has metal corner guards bearing her crowned falcon with a lion rampant, dragon and greyhound, and Anne’s motifs recur in the illuminations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

"Traditionally we have decorative lighting and illuminations on Independence Day and other national days, but this time we will refrain from that, as part of the austerity measures," Ahmed told reporters.

From Barron's ● Mar. 9, 2026

When chief engineer Brian Fraser urged the crew to cut back on the illuminations, the ship's radio officer wrote him a cheeky reply - in rhyme.

From BBC ● Nov. 17, 2024

The illuminations set off from the London Eye, and barges moored in a central area of the river featured more than 12,000 fireworks.

From DOGO News ● Jan. 2, 2024

The dog barked furiously in our direction, but the soldiers were all staring at the illuminations above.

From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson

Related Words

• brightness