Illumination

How to spell illumination

12 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce illumination

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does illumination mean?

1. nounThe act of lighting something or the light that falls on it.
2. nounA sudden clarity or understanding that explains something previously confusing.

Illumination in a sentence

• The gallery relies on natural illumination from the skylights.

• The diagram brought a moment of illumination about how the engine works.

• Poor illumination in the stairwell made the steps hard to see.

• Her notes offered real illumination on a topic the textbook left vague.

Where does illumination come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb illuminare, meaning 'to light up' or 'to shine upon', which was built from the prefix in- (here meaning 'on' or 'into') and lumen, the Latin word for 'light'. The same lumen root lights up many English relatives, including 'luminous', 'luminary', and 'luminescence', which is a useful reminder of why the spelling keeps a doubled L (from the assimilation of in- before l) and an i in the lumin part rather than an e. English took the word in through Old French during the late Middle Ages, and by the 1400s it described both the act of lighting and the decorative gold and colour added to handwritten manuscripts. From there it broadened to mean enlightenment of the mind, the brightening of a scene, and the festive lighting of buildings. The trap for writers is the unstressed middle vowel and the double L at the front, both of which the ear does not clearly signal.

How the word is built

• il- (in, on; assimilated form of in-)
• lumin (light, from Latin lumen)
• -ation (noun-forming suffix)