illuminate
- To light up a place or object, or figuratively to make something clearer and easier to understand.
- To decorate a manuscript with gold, silver, or bright colors, as was done by medieval scribes.
In a sentence
- Candles illuminated the old church during the power outage.
- The professor's lecture illuminated the complex relationship between trade and colonial expansion.
Usage note. In formal writing, 'illuminate' is preferred over 'shed light on' when you want a single precise verb; reserve the manuscript decoration sense for historical contexts.
Where it comes from
English illuminate · entered English 15th c.
From Latin 'illuminare,' composed of 'in-' (into, upon) and 'luminare' (to light), from 'lumen' (light). It passed into English in the 15th century, first referring to physical light and manuscript decoration, with the figurative 'to clarify' sense following shortly after.