Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “illuminate” come from?

Illuminate comes from Middle English illuminaten, from Latin illuminatum, the past participle of illuminō, composed of the prefix in- and the verb luminō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ne-.

illuminate (English): To shine light on something; To decorate...

Definitions

  1. To shine light on something; To decorate...

Ancestry of “illuminate”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinilluminatusilluminated, brightened, having been illuminated;...
2Latinillūminō—
3Latinlūminō—
4Latinlūmen—
5English-escencea specified process or state
6Latin-escens—
7Latin-escoForms verbs from adjectives meaning "become "
8Latin-eoForms stative verbs from adjectives; dative...
9Proto-Italic-ēōForms stative verbs, indicating a state of being;...
10Proto-Italic-ējō—
11Proto-Indo-European-éh₁yetiThematicization of the athematic stative verbal...
12Proto-Indo-European-yetiCreates transitive imperfective verbs from roots

Words derived from “illuminate”

  • illuminating
  • illuminator
  • illuminative
  • illuminatingly
  • unilluminating
  • transilluminator
  • transilluminate
  • illuminateth
  • illuminatively
  • endoilluminator
  • reilluminate
  • interilluminate
  • illuminatest
  • counterilluminate
  • disilluminate
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yeti →