illumine

[ih-loo-min]

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verb (used with or without object), il·lu·mined, il·lu·min·ing.

Origin of illumine

1300–50; Middle English illuminen < Latin illūmināre to light up, equivalent to il- il-¹ + lūmin- (stem of lūmen) light + -ā- thematic vowel + -re infinitive suffix

Related formsil·lu·mi·na·ble, adjectiveself-il·lu·mined, adjective

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

Related Words for illumine

light, irradiate, illuminate, brighten, clarify, interpret, elucidate

Examples from the Web for illumine

Historical Examples of illumine

Again I am told the host managed to illumine his refusal with a smile.
Ruggles of Red Gap
Harry Leon Wilson
Rome, immense and dominated by a battle of clouds, seemed to illumine the sky.
The Child of Pleasure
Gabriele D'Annunzio
His disc was of a lurid red,—a colour appropriate to the spectacle it was to illumine.
The Ocean Waifs
Mayne Reid
If this can illumine the obscurity, it will all be on the positive side of the inquiry.
Moon Lore
Timothy Harley
The sun shone on Chepe; he only asked that it should illumine the page he read.
Burlesques
William Makepeace Thackeray

British Dictionary definitions for illumine

illumine

verb

a literary word for illuminate

Derived Formsilluminable, adjective

Word Origin for illumine

C14: from Latin illūmināre to make light; see illuminate

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

Word Origin and History for illumine

late 14c., "to enlighten spiritually;" mid-15c., "to light up, shine light on," from Old French illuminer, from Latin illuminare (see illumination). Related: illumined.