illumine

[ih-loo-min]

verb (used with or without object)

illumined, illumining 

1. to illuminate.

illumine

/ ɪˈluːmɪn /

verb

1. a literary word for illuminate

Other Word Forms

• illuminable adjective
• self-illumined adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of illumine¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of illumine¹

C14: from Latin illūmināre to make light; see _illuminate

Example Sentences

The lighting illumines each river in brilliantly bright backdrop colors.

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“She is the one of course that I am trying to get. … To mark her off, to describe, to illumine, to celebrate, to get rid of her.”

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There was a din of crickets outside, and the pauseless roar of the river, and the stately world was illumined with pearly moonlight; but inside the log it was dark and hushed, like a crypt.

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The fog of war obscures even the most illumined conscience.

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Rather, my time with Jackson illumined a generative confusion to how she understood abstraction in art and life.

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