illuminate

English

WOTD – 4 November 2006    

Etymology

From Middle English illuminaten, originally from Latin illūminātum, supine of illūminō (“lighten, light up, show off”), from in + lūminō (“light up”), from lūmen (“light”). Cognate with Old English lȳman (“to glow, shine”). More at leam.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪlˈlumɪneɪt/, /ɪlˈluməneɪt/ (verb)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

  (verb)
• IPA: /ɪlˈlumɪnət/ (noun)

Verb

illuminate (third-person singular simple present illuminates, present participle illuminating, simple past and past participle illuminated)

1. (transitive) to shine light on something
2. (transitive) to decorate something with lights
3. (transitive) to clarify or make something understandable
4. (transitive) to decorate the page of a manuscript book with ornamental designs
5. (transitive, figuratively) To make spectacular
   • 2012 June 2, Phil McNulty, “England 1-0 Belgium”, BBC Sport:

     Hodgson's approach may not illuminate proceedings in Poland and Ukraine but early evidence suggests they will be tough to break down.

6. (intransitive) to glow
7. (intransitive) to be exposed to light

Translations

to shine light on something

• Armenian: լուսավորել (hy) (lusavorel)
• Azeri: işıqlandırmaq (az)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 照亮 (cmn) (zhàoliàng), 照明 (cmn) (zhàomíng)

• Czech: osvětlit (cs), osvětlovat (cs)
• Dutch: belichten (nl)
• Esperanto: ilumini (eo)
• Finnish: valaista (fi)
• French: illuminer (fr)
• German: beleuchten (de)
• Interlingua: illuminar (ia)
• Italian: illuminare (it)

• Japanese: 照らす (ja) (てらす, terasu), 照明する (ja) (しょうめいする, shōmei-suru)
• Jèrriais: illeuminner
• Latin: illuminare (la)
• Maori: tūrama (mi)
• Polish: iluminować (pl), oświetlać (pl)
• Romanian: ilumina (ro), lumina (ro)
• Russian: освещать (ru) (osveščát') impf., осветить (ru) (osvetít') pf.
• Spanish: iluminar (es)
• Tocharian A: luk-
• Tocharian B: luk-

to decorate something with lights

• Dutch: verlichten (nl), illumineren (nl)
• German: illuminieren (de)

• Russian: иллюминировать (ru) (illjuminírovat')

to clarify or make something understandable

• Dutch: verhelderen (nl)
• Finnish: valaista (fi)
• Italian: illuminare (it), chiarire (it)

• Russian: разъяснять (ru) (raz”jasnját') impf., разъяснить (ru) (raz”jasnít') pf.

to decorate the page of a manuscript book with ornamental designs

• Dutch: verluchten (nl), verluchtigen (nl)
• Irish: maisigh (ga)

• Italian: miniare (it)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: lumigi (eo)

Synonyms

• illumine

Derived terms

• transilluminate
• illuminator

Noun

illuminate (plural illuminates)

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

Adjective

illuminate (comparative more illuminate, superlative most illuminate)

1. (obsolete) enlightened

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Bishop Hall to this entry?)

---

Interlingua

Participle

illuminate

1. past participle of illuminar

---

Italian

Adjective

illuminate f pl

1. feminine plural of illuminato

Verb

illuminate

1. second-person plural present tense of illuminare
2. second-person plural imperative of illuminare
3. feminine plural past participle of illuminare

Anagrams

• alluminite

---

Latin

Participle

illūmināte

1. vocative masculine singular of illūminātus