to illuminate
52
4.1
- verb
- /ɪˈluːməˌneɪt/
:
iluminar
- Only the light from the entranceway illuminates her now, and Joe is not visible.
- lights illuminate
- illuminated by the sun
- illuminated by sunlight
I remember getting up the red light in the room that normally illuminated the room was off.
- I remember getting up the red light in the room that normally illuminated the room was off.
- And so we've opted for one stationary light that basically illuminates the whole experience.
- This is the brightening brick powder illuminate in the shade pink.
- It was like my piss was illuminating the whole room.
- That city of our brains illuminated, it's going like crazy.
- It says soft focus perfects and illuminates for Dewey, flawless superstar youth glow.
Examples
-
The streetlights will illuminate the road, making it safer for drivers at night.
-
In the vast desert night, a single floodlight illuminates Jim and Megan's partially finished house.
Fiction book (1990) -
So access to energy, meaning how easily can I go illuminate my room?
-
You shine your light on a screen, and you illuminate the screen.
-
In an evacuation, exit path lights will automatically illuminate to guide you to an exit.
-
The experiment was conducted in a dimly illuminated room in each participant's school.
Academic text (2013) -
There was a single light bulb that illuminated his little shed, hanging by a wire.
-
As the nebular gas reaches the Earth, the sky will be illuminated by an ionized nebula.
Academic text (1996) -
She used a flashlight to illuminate the dark corners of the attic.
-
The artist placed candles around the room to illuminate the artwork on display.
Synonyms
905
1.0
To make something start to burn or shine
114
1.0
To point a light at something so you can see it
64
2.5
Begin to shine or make something begin to shine, for example by burning
16
2.3
To make a place or color look brighter
6
3.3
To make a room or object look brighter and more cheerful
3
3.3
To shine a strong light on a person or object on stage
1
8.1
To light something or make it easier to understand
1
4.5
To shine light behind a person or object to make them stand out
1
7.8
To shine light on something to make it visible
1
9.9
To light up a place or thing
1
4.1
Light that shines down from above, often from the sun
To make something shine with soft light
Shine a strong focused light on a person or thing
To light a large area with very bright lights, for example at a stadium
To direct light upward to make a wall or object stand out
Antonyms
Phrasal Verbs
How Bright
6
4.1
52
4.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
illuminate = il + lumin + ate
This sense ('to light up') follows the straightforward combination of the prefix + root meaning 'light' and the verb-forming suffix, so learners who know the components can readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Illuminate comes from the Latin parts in- 'into' and lumen 'light', the same root as luminous and luminary. So to illuminate a room is to 'bring light into' it and make things visible.