Dictionaries › English

illuminate

Pronunciation: /ɪˈl(j)umɪneɪt/

The English word “illuminate” has 12 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. To shine light on something.
  2. To decorate something with lights.
  3. To clarify or make something understandable.
  4. To decorate the page of a manuscript book with ornamental designs.
  5. To make spectacular.
  6. To glow; to light up.
  7. To be exposed to light.
  8. To direct a radar beam toward.

adjective

  1. Enlightened, illuminated, made bright.
  2. Enlightened spiritually, divinely taught or inspired; in technical use, converted, baptized.
  3. Learned, erudite.

noun

  1. Someone thought to have an unusual degree of enlightenment.

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.

Keep exploring: in the interactive dictionary every word of a definition is a link. Open “illuminate” there

More English words

About this dictionary

The English dictionary on Glottosphere has 650,529 entries with a page. Browse the English dictionary.

Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.