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illumination definition

il·lu·mi·na·tion (i lo̵̅o̅′mə nā′s̸hən)

noun

  1. an illuminating or being illuminated; specif.,
    1. a lighting up; supplying of light
    2. clarification; explanation
    3. enlightenment; instruction
    4. decoration with lights
    5. decoration of manuscripts with designs, colors, etc.
  2. the intensity of light per unit of area
  3. the designs, tracings, etc. used in decorating manuscripts
  4. decorative lighting, as for a city

Etymology: ME illumynacyon < OFr illumination < LL illuminatio

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

illumination Synonyms

illumination

n.

  1. A light

    gleam, flame, brilliance, lighting; see flash 1, light 1, 3.

  2. Instruction

    teaching, education, information; see knowledge 1.

  3. Decoration

    flourish, ornament, embellishment; see decoration 1, 2.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

illumination Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • spirit: The mind is made conscious by the reflected illumination of the spirit.

Converse of object

  • adjust: The corded version is designed for LX200 and other telescopes that have a power output socket and handset controls for adjusting the reticle illumination.

Adjective modifier

  • oblique: Also a look at some rather bizarre 19th century microscopes which took the use of oblique illumination a bit too far!

Modifies a noun

  • gradient: Consider another example image containing a strong illumination gradient.

Noun used with modifier

  • darkfield: You can quickly change LEDs say from white to green for phase contrast or color darkfield illumination.
illumination usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

illumination quotes

Painters who arenotcolourists produce illumination and not painting.

-Delacroix, (Ferdinand Victor) Euge'  ne

Politicians use statistics in the same way that a drunk uses lamp-postsöfor support rather than illumination.

-Lang, Andrew

illumination quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"illumination." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/illumination>

APA Style

illumination. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/illumination

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