late 14c., "to enlighten spiritually;" mid-15c., "to light up, shine light on," from Old French illuminer (13c.), from Latin illuminare "make bright, light up" (see illumination). Related: illumined.
Entries linking to illumine
illumination n.
late 14c., "spiritual enlightenment," from Late Latin illuminationem (nominative illuminatio), noun of action from past participle stem of Latin illuminare "to throw into light, make bright, light up;" figuratively, in rhetoric, "to set off, illustrate," from assimilated form of in- "in, into" (from PIE root *en "in") + lumen (genitive luminis) "light," from suffixed form of PIE root *leuk- "light, brightness." Meaning "action of lighting" in English is from 1560s; sense of "intellectual enlightenment" is from 1630s.
illuminate v.
c. 1500, "to light up, shine on," a back-formation from illumination or else from Latin illuminatus, past participle of illuminare "light up, make light, illuminate." Earlier was enlumyen (late 14c.) "decorate written material by hand with gold, silver, or bright colors," from Old French enluminer, from Late Latin inluminare; also illumine (late 14c.). Related: Illuminated; illuminating; illuminable.