ILLUMINATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does illuminate mean? 

• ILLUMINATE (verb)
  The verb ILLUMINATE has 3 senses:

1. make lighter or brighter

2. make free from confusion or ambiguity; make clear

3. add embellishments and paintings to (medieval manuscripts)

  Familiarity information: ILLUMINATE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ILLUMINATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they illuminate    ... he / she / it illuminates   
Past simple: illuminated   
Past participle: illuminated   
-ing form: illuminating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make lighter or brighter

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

illume; illuminate; illumine; light; light up

Context example:

This lamp lightens the room a bit

Hypernyms (to "illuminate" is one way to...):

lighten; lighten up (become lighter)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "illuminate"):

floodlight (illuminate with floodlights)

spotlight (illuminate with a spotlight, as in the theater)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

illuminant (something that can serve as a source of light)

illumination (the luminous flux incident on a unit area)

illumination (the degree of visibility of your environment)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make free from confusion or ambiguity; make clear

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

clear; clear up; crystalise; crystalize; crystallise; crystallize; elucidate; enlighten; illuminate; shed light on; sort out; straighten out

Context example:

Clear up the question of who is at fault

Hypernyms (to "illuminate" is one way to...):

clarify; clear up; elucidate (make clear and (more) comprehensible)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

illumination (an interpretation that removes obstacles to understanding)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Add embellishments and paintings to (medieval manuscripts)

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "illuminate" is one way to...):

adorn; beautify; decorate; embellish; grace; ornament (make more attractive by adding ornament, colour, etc.)

"Illuminate" entails doing...:

paint (make a painting of)

Domain category:

art; artistic creation; artistic production (the creation of beautiful or significant things)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "illuminate"):

miniate; rubricate (decorate (manuscripts) with letters painted red)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

illumination (painting or drawing included in a book (especially in illuminated medieval manuscripts))

 Context examples 

That new moon illuminated your eighth house of other people’s money, so there are a variety of ways that new moon may have worked.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The average size of the molecules in the nebula’s central cavity, surrounding the illuminating star, is larger than on the surface of the cloud at the outer edge of the cavity.

(“Kitchen Smoke” Molecules in Nebula Offer Clues to the Building Blocks of Life, NASA)

The new method is another advance in brain imaging that brings researchers closer to illuminating the entire brain and nervous system, one of today's greatest engineering challenges.

(Bigger is better for brain tissue understanding, NSF)

This cosmic trio makes up just a portion of a vast complex of gas and dust within which new stars are springing to life and illuminating their surroundings.

(VST Captures Three-In-One, ESO)

The flame illuminated her hand stretched out: roused now, and on the alert for discoveries, I at once noticed that hand.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

They positioned the laser to illuminate a sample at a steep, oblique angle.

(Smartphone microscope detects nanoparticles and viruses, NIH)

As the Saturn system moved into its northern hemisphere summer over the past few years, northern latitudes have become increasingly well illuminated.

(Unusual Red Arcs Spotted on Icy Saturn Moon, NASA)

Another issue is that ions can move around in the solar cell when illuminated, which can cause a change in the bandgap – the colour of light the material absorbs.

(Potassium gives perovskite-based solar cells an efficiency boost, University of Cambridge)

Barnard’s Star, the planet’s host star, is a red dwarf, a cool, low-mass star, which only dimly illuminates this newly-discovered world.

(Super-Earth Discovered Around Barnard's Star, ESO)

A light, with glass or plastic fibers which have special optical properties usually attached to a dental handpiece that is intended to illuminate oral structures.

(Fiber Optic Transilluminator, NCI Thesaurus)