illuminate. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

illuminate

SYLLABICATION:	il·lu·mi·nate
PRONUNCIATION:	-lm-nt
VERB:	Inflected forms: il·lu·mi·nat·ed, il·lu·mi·nat·ing, il·lu·mi·nates
TRANSITIVE VERB:	1. To provide or brighten with light. 2. To decorate or hang with lights. 3. To make understandable; clarify: “Cleverly made attacks can . . . serve to illuminate important differences between candidates” (New Republic). 4. To enlighten intellectually or spiritually; enable to understand. 5. To endow with fame or splendor; celebrate. 6. To adorn (a page of a book, for example) with ornamental designs, miniatures, or lettering in brilliant colors or precious metals. 7. To expose to or reveal by radiation.
INTRANSITIVE VERB:	1. To become lighted; glow. 2. To provide intellectual or spiritual enlightenment and understanding: “Once you decide to titillate instead of illuminate, you're on a slippery slope” (Bill Moyers). 3. To be exposed to or revealed by radiation.
NOUN:	(-nt) One who has or professes to have an unusual degree of enlightenment.
ETYMOLOGY:	Middle English illuminaten, from Latin illminre, illmint- : in-, in; see in–² + lminre, to light up (from lmen, lmin-, light; see leuk- in Appendix I).
OTHER FORMS:	il·lumi·nating·ly —ADVERB


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.