One of the mysteries of the English language finally explained.
1literary with object Light up; brighten.‘he moved her lamp so that her face was illumined’
become bright, make bright, become brighter, make brighter, light up, lighten, cast light on, shed light on, throw light on, illuminate, irradiateView synonyms
- ‘Everywhere is pure, light illumines the ten directions, and the ten thousand dharmas [things] are one as is.’
- ‘The light from the companionway illumined the interior.’
- ‘Its pathway is illumined by the reflected light from the rose window - shards of blue, scarlet, pale gold that shimmer.’
- ‘From my peripheral vision, through the glass windshield, a vast spread of city lights illumining the black night sky over us for miles came into view.’
- ‘But as it is, such knowledge of exemplary forms is impossible, though the light of God illumines the forms of particular things that we encounter in the world so that we can come to know them.’
2Enlighten (someone) spiritually or intellectually.
- ‘In his Confessions Augustine redirected reason inward in a fateful focus upon the content and structure of his own mind and soul, as he now experienced them - illumined by grace.’
- ‘He was surrounded by people who had many powerful ideas and who illumined him to the point where they could wind him up and then he could do his special stuff.’
- ‘Second, the strife between world and earth gives rise to a strife between concealment and unconcealment, which means that, even when we are illumined through a disclosure, much remains hidden.’
- ‘God continually illumines us, both dwelling upon us and dwelling among us.’
- ‘He lives, illumining us with the eternal life that he is.’
Middle English: from Old French illuminer, from Latin illuminare (see illuminate).
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