illuminate
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɪˈl(j)umɪneɪt/
ipa: /ɪˈl(j)uməneɪt/
ipa: /ɪˈl(j)umɪnət/
Forms: form: illuminates
form: illuminating
form: illuminated
form: illuminated
Etymology: From Middle English illuminaten, borrowed from Latin illūminātus, perfect passive participle of illūminō (“lighten, light up, show off”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) for more), from in + lūminō (“light up”), from lūmen (“light”). Cognate with Old English lȳman (“to glow, shine”). More at leam.
Senses: examples: text: Nero illuminated his gardens with live Christians soaked in tar, and we were now treated to a similar spectacle, probably for the first time since his day, only happily our lamps were not living ones.
ref: 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
text: A light that is one foot away from the subject's face will completely illuminate the face, but leave the rest of the body softer and darker.
ref: 2006, Michael Grecco, Lighting and the Dramatic Portrait, Amphoto Books, →ISBN, page 40:
glosses: To shine light on something.
glosses: To decorate something with lights.
examples: text: Jan and Maidi, a lesbian couple, do a very funny routine illuminating the simplicity of the alternative fertilization process and even go so far as to recommend the most suitable receptacles for the semen: marinated artichoke heart jars.
ref: 1984 December 8, Ellen Grabiner, “A Candid Portrait of Choosing Children”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 21, page 10:
glosses: To clarify or make something understandable.
glosses: To decorate the page of a manuscript book with ornamental designs.
examples: text: Hodgson's approach may not illuminate proceedings in Poland and Ukraine but early evidence suggests they will be tough to break down.
ref: 2012 June 2, Phil McNulty, “England 1-0 Belgium”, in BBC Sport:
glosses: To make spectacular.
examples: text: Red diode in button illuminates when camera runs at speed set in five-digit speed selector.
ref: 1994, Sylvia Carlson, Verne Carlson, Professional Cameraman's Handbook, →ISBN, page 494:
text: Say my name / and every color illuminates. / We are shining / […]
ref: 2011/2012, "Spectrum", written by Florence Welch and Paul Epworth, performed by Florence and the Machine, released on the album Ceremonials (2011)
glosses: To glow; to light up.
glosses: To be exposed to light.
topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: To direct a radar beam toward.
Synonyms: sense: shine light on something
word: belight
word: enlighten
word: illumine
sense: make something understandable
word: bring home
sense: make something understandable
word: clarify
sense: make something understandable
word: elucidate
sense: make something understandable
word: explicitize
sense: make something understandable
word: sort out
sense: make something understandable
word: straighten out
sense: decorate the page of a manuscript book
word: illustrate
word: quill
sense: to glow; to light up
word: gleam
word: shine
word: alight
word: beshine
word: bright
word: fire
word: illume
word: illuminate
word: irradiate
word: light
word: lighten
word: light up
word: luster
word: lustrate
word: shed light on
Hyponyms: word: glisten
word: flash
word: shine
Derived terms: counterilluminate
disilluminate
illuminative
illuminator
interilluminate
preilluminate
reilluminate
retroilluminate
transilluminate
Related terms: luminous
lumens