illustre
illustre adjective: synonym of illustrious.
Adjective
illustre (comparative more illustre, superlative most illustre)
- Synonym of illustrious.
- Synonyms:
- illustrious
Verb
illustre (third-person singular simple present illustres, present participle illustring, simple past and past participle illustred)
- To illuminate (something).
- But, as the Phœnix on my Front doth gliſter, / Thou ſhalt the Finials of my Frame illuſtre.1608, [Guillaume de Salluste] Du Bartas, “[Du Bartas His First Week, or Birth of the World: […].] The Fift Daie of the First Week.”, in Josuah Sylvester, transl., Du Bartas His Deuine Weekes and...
- To make (someone) illustrious.
Synonyms of illustre
Forms of illustre
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more illustre |
| superlative | most illustre |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | illustres |
| present participle | illustring |
| past participle | illustred |
| past | illustred |
Origin of illustre
From Middle French illustre (French illustre), from Latin illūstris (“bright, shining, brilliant, lustrous; clear, lucid; illustrious, distinguished, famous”), from illūstrō (“to illustrate”).
From Middle English illustren, from Middle French illustrer (French illustrer), from Latin illūstrāre (“to illustrate”).
Words formed from illustre
Questions about illustre
- What does illustre mean?
- Illustre means synonym of illustrious.
- What part of speech is illustre?
- Illustre can be an adjective or a verb.
Words near illustre in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: illustre (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.
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