il·lu·mi·na·tion

(ĭ-lo͞o′mə-nā′shən)

a. The act of illuminating.

b. The state of being illuminated.

2. A source of light.

3. Decorative lighting.

4. Spiritual or intellectual enlightenment.

5. Clarification; elucidation.

a. The art or act of decorating a text, page, or initial letter with ornamental designs, images, or lettering.

b. An example of this art.

7. Physics The luminous flux per unit area at any point on a surface exposed to incident light. Also called illuminance.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

illumination

(ɪˌluːmɪˈneɪʃən)

1. the act of illuminating or the state of being illuminated

2. a source of light

3. (often plural) chiefly Brit a light or lights, esp coloured lights, used as decoration in streets, parks, etc

4. spiritual or intellectual enlightenment; insight or understanding

5. the act of making understood; clarification

6. (Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) decoration in colours, gold, or silver used on some manuscripts or printed works

7. (General Physics) physics another name (not in technical usage) for illuminance

ilˌlumiˈnational adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

il•lu•mi•na•tion

(ɪˌlu məˈneɪ ʃən)

n.

1. an act or instance of illuminating.

2. the state of being illuminated.

3. a decoration of lights.

4. Sometimes, illuminations. a display using lights as a major decoration.

5. intellectual or spiritual enlightenment.

6. the intensity of light falling at a given place on a lighted surface; the luminous flux incident per unit area, expressed in lumens per unit of area.

7. a supply of light.

8. decoration of a manuscript or book with a painted design in color and gold or silver.

9. a design used in such decoration.

[1300–50; Middle English < Latin]

illumination

1. the art of decorating manuscripts with illustrations, as in the capitals, tracery, etc.
2. the decoration itself.

illumination

noun

1. light, lighting, lights, ray, beam, lighting up, brightening, brightness, radiance The only illumination came from a small window above.

2. enlightenment, understanding, insight, perception, awareness, revelation, inspiration, clarification, edification No further illumination can be had from this theory.

plural noun

1. lights, decorations, fairy lights the famous Blackpool illuminations

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

illumination

noun

1. The act of physically illuminating or the condition of being filled with light:

light, lighting.

2. Electromagnetic radiation that makes vision possible:

light.

3. The condition of being informed spiritually:

edification, enlightenment.

4. Something that serves to explain or clarify:

clarification, construction, decipherment, elucidation, exegesis, explanation, explication, exposition, illustration, interpretation.

Archaic: enucleation.

Translations

إضاءَه، إنارَه ، إسْتِنارَهتَزيين بالأضْواء، زَخْرَفَه

iluminaceosvětleníslavnostní osvětlení

belysning

Beleuchtung Erleuchtung

iluminación

enluminure illumination

kivilágítás

ljósaskreytingupplÿsing; útskÿring

illuminazione miniatura

belysning lysreklame

iluminácia

aydınlatmadonanmarenkli ve parlak ışıklandırma

灯饰照明

illumination

[ɪˌluːmɪˈneɪʃən] N (gen) → iluminación f (Art) → iluminación f (fig) → aclaración f illuminations (Brit) (= decorative lights) → luces fpl, iluminaciones fpl

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

illumination

[ɪˌluːmɪˈneɪʃ^ən]

n (= lighting) → éclairage m

illuminations npl (= decorative lights) → illumination f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

illumination

(of street, room, building) → Beleuchtung f; source of illumination → Lichtquelle f

illuminations pl (= decorative lights) → festliche Beleuchtung, Illumination f

(Art) (of manuscript) → Illumination f; (subject) → Buchmalerei f

(fig) → Erläuterung f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

illumination

[ɪˌluːmɪˈneɪʃ/ən] n

a. (lighting) → illuminazione f

b. (of manuscript) → miniatura

c. illuminations npl (coloured lights) → luminarie fpl

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

illuminate

(iˈluːmineit) verb

to light up. The gardens were illuminated by rows of lamps.

ilˈluminated adjective

(of a manuscript) decorated with ornamental lettering or illustrations.

ilˈluminating adjective

helping to make something clear. an illuminating discussion.

ilˌlumiˈnation noun

1. the act of illuminating.

2. (in plural) the decorative lights in a town etc. Go to Blackpool and see the illuminations.

il·lu·mi·na·tion

n. iluminación;

dark field ___ → iluminación lateral u oblicua del campo oscuro.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

At that moment the mysterious illumination suddenly flared to an intense, an almost blinding splendor, flushing the entire sky, extinguishing the stars and throwing the monstrous shadow of himself athwart the landscape.

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An illumination of Heidelberg Castle is one of the sights of Europe.

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He makes his berth an Aladdin's lamp, and lays him down in it; so that in the pitchiest night the ship's black hull still houses an illumination. See with what entire freedom the whaleman takes his handful of lamps --often but old bottles and vials, though --to the copper cooler at the try-works, and replenishes them there, as mugs of ale at a vat.

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It seemed to be coming in this direction so I followed along, pulled up short of the house, climbed on the top of the bank and saw that extraordinary illumination from the marshland on the other side.

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The first creature of God, in the works of the days, was the light of the sense; the last, was the light of reason; and his sabbath work ever since, is the illumination of his Spirit.

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Just at this crisis, as though she comprehended all this agitation regarding herself, the moon shone forth with serene splendor, eclipsing by her intense illumination all the surrounding lights.

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In this state of suspense they were befriended, not by any sudden illumination of Mr.

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The creature's face was turned for one brief instant out of the dimness of the stern towards this illumination, and I saw that the eyes that glanced at me shone with a pale-green light.

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As I happened to have been in a remarkably sound and refreshing slumber, I could not imagine why the information had not been deferred until morning, indeed, I felt very much inclined to fly into a passion and box my valet's ears; but on second thoughts I got quietly up, and on going outside the house was not a little interested by the moving illumination which I beheld.

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The vicarage, nestling close under the shadow of the church-tower, threw no illumination of fire-light or candle-light on the dreary scene.

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An illumination broke over his whole face when he saw her and joined her under the orange tree.

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He forgot, and lived again, and, living, he saw, in clear illumination, the beast he was making of himself - not by the drink, but by the work.

View in context

Noun	1.	illumination - a condition of spiritual awareness; divine illumination; "follow God's light" light condition, status - a state at a particular time; "a condition (or state) of disrepair"; "the current status of the arms negotiations"
	2.	illumination - the degree of visibility of your environment state - the way something is with respect to its main attributes; "the current state of knowledge"; "his state of health"; "in a weak financial state" lighting, light - having abundant light or illumination; "they played as long as it was light"; "as long as the lighting was good" dark, darkness - absence of light or illumination
	3.	illumination - an interpretation that removes obstacles to understanding; "the professor's clarification helped her to understand the textbook" clarification, elucidation interpretation - an explanation that results from interpreting something; "the report included his interpretation of the forensic evidence" disambiguation - clarification that follows from the removal of ambiguity
	4.	illumination - the luminous flux incident on a unit area illuminance brightness level, luminance, luminosity, luminousness, brightness, light - the quality of being luminous; emitting or reflecting light; "its luminosity is measured relative to that of our sun"
	5.	illumination - painting or drawing included in a book (especially in illuminated medieval manuscripts) miniature painting, picture - graphic art consisting of an artistic composition made by applying paints to a surface; "a small painting by Picasso"; "he bought the painting as an investment"; "his pictures hang in the Louvre" Dark Ages, Middle Ages - the period of history between classical antiquity and the Italian Renaissance