illumine

American  

[ih-loo-min] / ɪˈlu mɪn /

verb (used with or without object)

illumined, illumining

1. to illuminate.

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illumine British  

/ ɪˈluːmɪn /

verb

1. a literary word for illuminate

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Other Word Forms

• illuminable adjective
• self-illumined adjective

Etymology

Origin of illumine

1300–50; Middle English illuminen < Latin illūmināre to light up, equivalent to il- il- ¹ + lūmin- (stem of lūmen ) light + -ā- thematic vowel + -re infinitive suffix

Explanation

To illumine is to shine a light on something, literally or figuratively. Your desk lamp might illumine the page of your book, while the words you're reading illumine your mind. This literary term is a more poetic way of saying "illuminate," though its original meaning was the figurative "enlighten spiritually." It's a graceful verb to use when you're talking about light that shines or glows: "The dancing candlelight cheerfully illumines the dim room." It's also useful for describing ideas that spark an intellectual or spiritual understanding: "It's the first time I've read philosophy that truly illumines my perception."

Example Sentences

The non-narrative videos, which may well come to be regarded as the Sistine Chapel of video art, projected onto epic screens above the orchestra and singers, serve not to illumine Wagner’s drama but his intent.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 14, 2022

Those “if”s, those two counterfactuals, help illumine the precise borders of the crime.

From The New Yorker • Apr. 17, 2019

But Ms. Fairchild’s social media post guides us to the gold at its heart: Ms. McBride brings “nuggets of wisdom” about what Balanchine said that illumine a ballet that Ms. Fairchild has already loved dancing.

From New York Times • Feb. 13, 2018

It’s not quite the case that the people Faye meets illumine various facets of Faye herself—she remains a cipher, however much we might want to speculate about her.

From Slate • Jan. 23, 2017

A sun that was to illumine a world to come.

From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes