illumine

Syllables: il·lum·ine/ɪˈl(j)uːmɪn/US/ɪˈlumən/

illumine verb: to shine light on (something).

Verb

illumine (third-person singular simple present illumines, present participle illumining, simple past and past participle illumined)

(also, figuratively, literary, transitive) To shine light on (something).
- Laſt night of al, when yonder ſtarre that's weſtward from the pole, had made his coarſe to illumine that part of heauen. Where now it burnes, Marcellus and myself, The bell then towling one.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shake-speare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] L[ing] and Iohn Trundell...
- [O]ut-flew / Millions of flaming ſwords, drawn from the thighs / Of mighty Cherubim; the ſudden blaze / Far round illumin'd hell: […]1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
(also, figuratively, literary, transitive) To cause (something) to glow or shine with light.
- And as the bright sun glorifies the sky, / So is her face illumined with her eye; […]1593, [William Shakespeare], Venus and Adonis, London: […] Richard Field, […], →OCLC, [verse 81]; republished as Shakespeare’s Venus & Adonis: […], London: J[oseph] M[alaby] Dent and Co. […], 1896...
- The ſecond property of your excellent ſherris, is the vvarming of the blood, vvhich before (cold & ſetled) left the lyuer vvhite & pale, vvhich is the badge of puſilanimitie and covvardize: but the ſherris vvarmes it, and makes it courſe from the invvards to the partes extreames, it illumineth the...c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henrie the Fourth, […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600...
(figuratively, literary, transitive) To enlighten (someone) spiritually; to induce (someone) to adopt, or believe in the truth of, a religion, religious tenet, etc.
- Be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect, didst thou call to me, my holy and divine teacher, thou Jesus Christ, who illuminedst the spirit world with a light, which was not of this world; […]1840, C[hristoph] C[hristian] Sturm, “February XXI. The World, the Mirror of Eternity.”, in Robert Huish, transl., Evening Devotions; or, The Worship of God in Spirit and in Truth for Every Day in...
(figuratively, literary, transitive) To cause (the eyes) to see.
(figuratively, literary, transitive) To cause (a person or their face) to show enlightenment, happiness, etc.
(figuratively, literary, rare, transitive) To enlighten (someone) intellectually.
- What in me is dark / Illumine, what is low raiſe and ſupport; / That to the highth of this great Argument / I may aſſert th' Eternal Providence, / And juſtifie the wayes of God to men.1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
- This benighted mind, only illumined by a kind of miserable astuteness, and that 'cunning of the belly' which is born of want to engender avarice— […] had a pathos for his lively sympathies and his fresh heart.1846, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], “The Lawyer and the Body-snatcher”, in Lucretia: Or The Children of Night. […], volume II, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, part II, page 220
(figuratively, literary, transitive) To decorate (a page of a manuscript book) with ornamental designs.
- To Cato, Virgil pay'd one honeſt line; / O let my Country's Friends illumin mine!1738, [Alexander] Pope, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Thirty Eight. Dialogue II, London: […] R[obert] Dodsley […], →OCLC, page 9
(intransitive) To become bright; to light up.
(figuratively, intransitive) To enlighten intellectually.
- To trace the trail of feelings which such crises and calamities might be expected to breed in a woman of ordinary sensibility might have filled volumes. A dramatist, of course, has no volumes to fill. He is forced to contract. Even so, he can illumine; he can reveal enough for us to guess the rest.1925 April, Virginia Woolf, “Notes on an Elizabethan Play”, in The Common Reader, 2nd edition, London: Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, […], published November 1925, →OCLC, page 77
(figuratively, intransitive) Of a person or their face: to show enlightenment, happiness, etc.
- "Shell-shock." Our faces did not illumine so she dragged on lamely, "Anyway, he's not well."1918 March, Rebecca West [pseudonym; Cicily Isabel Fairfield], chapter I, in The Return of the Soldier, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., published 1918, →OCLC, page 22

illumine meaning in Tamil and Sanskrit

Examples of illumine in a sentence

The pages which I have the privilege of now introducing to the world, are calculated, I trust, to illumine the dark parts of the field of morals— […]a. 1833 (date written), Jeremy Bentham, “Introduction”, in John Bowring, editor, Deontology; or, The Science of Morality: […], volume I...
I am like a happy lover / Who illumines life with dreaming!1851, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Golden Legend, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC, page 28:
[T]he possibility that illustrations could actually illumine writing and draw out elements of a narrative doesn’t seem to count for much any more.2012 January 20, Melanie McDonagh, “Where have all the book illustrators gone?”, in The Independent, London: Independent News & Media...
Fanny’s attractions increased—increased two-fold—for the sensibility which beautified her complexion and illumined her countenance, was an attraction in itself.1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter VI, in Mansfield Park: […], volume II, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC...

Forms of illumine

third-person singular present	illumines
present participle	illumining
past participle	illumined
past	illumined

Origin of illumine

From Middle English illuminen (“to light, light up; to shine; (figuratively) to enlighten spiritually; to make illustrious”) [and other forms], from Old French illuminer (“to light up, illuminate; (figuratively) to enlighten”) (modern French illuminer), from Latin illūmināre, the present active infinitive of illūminō (“to light up, illuminate; to brighten; to adorn; to make conspicuous”), from il- (variant of in- (prefix meaning ‘in, within’; intensifying prefix)) + lūminō (“to illuminate; to brighten; (figuratively) to reveal”) (from lūmen (“light; light source; (poetic) brightness; daylight”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“to shine; to see; bright”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)).

Words formed from illumine

Questions about illumine

What does illumine mean?: Illumine means to shine light on (something).
What is illumine in Tamil?: Illumine in Tamil is வெளிச்சமாக்கு. See Illumine meaning in Tamil.
How do you use illumine in a sentence?: The pages which I have the privilege of now introducing to the world, are calculated, I trust, to illumine the dark parts of the field of morals— […]
What part of speech is illumine?: Illumine is a verb.
How do you pronounce illumine?: Illumine is pronounced /ɪˈl(j)uːmɪn/ (UK).
What is the past tense of illumine?: The past tense of illumine is illumined.

Words near illumine in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: illumine (page history and authors); illumine (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); विवृ (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-illumine.wav.

Cite this entry: “illumine.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/illumine. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.