v.tr.
1. light up; make bright.
2 decorate (buildings etc.) with lights as a sign of festivity.
3 decorate (an initial letter, a manuscript, etc.) with gold, silver, or brilliant colours.
4 help to explain (a subject etc.).
5 enlighten spiritually or intellectually.
6 shed lustre on.
Derivatives:
illuminating adj. illuminatingly adv. illumination n. illuminative adj. illuminator n.
Etymology: L illuminare (as IN-(2), lumen luminis light)