Illustrated

How to spell illustrated

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce illustrated

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does illustrated mean?

1. verbExplained or made something clear by using examples, pictures, or diagrams.
2. adjectiveProvided with pictures, diagrams, or other images to accompany the text.

Illustrated in a sentence

• verb

  She illustrated each point in the report with a simple chart.

• adjective

  The children received an illustrated edition of the classic novel.

• verb

  The lecturer illustrated the theory using a real customer complaint.

• adjective

  He keeps an illustrated guide to garden birds on the shelf.

Where does illustrated come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb illustrare, which meant 'to light up', 'to illuminate', or figuratively 'to make clear and brilliant'. That verb was formed from the prefix in- (here meaning 'into' or 'upon') joined to lustrare, 'to brighten' or 'to purify with light', which is also the root behind the English word 'lustre'. When English adopted 'illustrate' in the sixteenth century, the earliest meanings were close to the Latin: to shed light on something, to make it famous, or to explain it clearly. Only later did the sense narrow toward providing pictures that accompany and clarify a text, giving us the familiar 'illustrated book'. The double l comes straight from the Latin assimilation of in- to il- before the l of lustrare, and remembering that bright 'lustre' lives inside the word helps fix that doubled letter in the mind.

How the word is built

• il- (variant of in-: into, upon)
• lustr (from Latin lustrare: to light up, make bright)
• -ate (verb-forming suffix)
• -ed (past tense / past participle)