Meaning & use
illuminate
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To fill a place or object with light so that it can be seen.
Grammar: Takes an object: lamps illuminate the room.
Patterns
- illuminate something
- illuminate something with something
Floodlights illuminated the whole stadium.
A single candle illuminated the small cellar.
Fireworks illuminated the river for the festival.
verbtransitiveformalfigurative
To make a subject or problem clearer and easier to understand.
Grammar: Takes an abstract object: illuminate a problem.
Patterns
- illuminate an issue
- illuminate how something works
The study illuminates how habits form in children.
Her talk illuminated several puzzling points in the law.
The diary illuminates daily life in the 1800s.
verbtransitivetechnical
To decorate a manuscript with colored or gold designs.
Grammar: A specialist term for medieval-style books, usually in the past participle: an illuminated manuscript.
Patterns
- illuminate a manuscript
Monks spent years illuminating the holy books.
The scribe illuminated the first letter of each page in gold.
The museum displays a prayer book illuminated in the fifteenth century.
Word forms
| third person singular | illuminates |
|---|---|
| past tense | illuminated |
| past participle | illuminated |
| -ing form | illuminating |
Common combinations
- illuminate the sky
- Lightning illuminated the sky for a moment.
- illuminate an issue
- The report illuminates the issue of poverty.
- brightly illuminated
- The brightly illuminated shop windows drew crowds.
- illuminate the path
- Lanterns illuminated the path to the cottage.
- illuminated manuscript
- The library owns an illuminated manuscript.
- shed light and illuminate
- The book illuminates a forgotten period.
Synonyms and how they differ
- light up
- Light up is the everyday phrasal verb, while illuminate sounds more formal and is also used for ideas.
- brighten
- Brighten means to make something brighter or happier, while illuminate means to give light so it can be seen.
- clarify
- Clarify only applies to making something clear in the mind, whereas illuminate can also be literal light.
- enlighten
- Enlighten means to give someone knowledge or understanding, whereas illuminate makes a subject clearer.
Opposites
Word family
- illumination noun
- light, or the act of lighting
- illuminating adjective
- giving light or helping understanding
- illuminated adjective
- lit up, or decorated
- illuminator noun
- a person or thing that lights up
Commonly confused: illuminate or eliminate?
illuminate vs eliminate
Eliminate means to remove or get rid of something, and illuminate means to light or clarify it; the two sound similar but are opposite in effect.
Practice
Which meaning of illuminate is used in 'The scientist's lecture illuminated the mystery of black holes'?
Choose one answer.
Here illuminate is figurative, meaning to make a subject clearer. The lecture does not literally light anything or decorate a book.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “illuminate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.