Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “illumination” come from?

Illumination comes from Middle French illumination, from Late Latin illuminatio, from Latin illumino, meaning to light up, composed of Latin in- and a root from Proto-Indo-European ne-.

illumination (English): The act of illuminating, or supplying with light;...

Definitions

  1. The act of illuminating, or supplying with light;...

Ancestry of “illumination”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchillumination—
2Latinilluminatioglory; enlightening; illumination, lighting
3Latinillūminō—
4Latinlūminō—
5Latinlūmen—
6English-escencea specified process or state
7Latin-escens—
8Latin-escoForms verbs from adjectives meaning "become "
9Latin-eoForms stative verbs from adjectives; dative...
10Proto-Italic-ēōForms stative verbs, indicating a state of being;...
11Proto-Italic-ējō—
12Proto-Indo-European-éh₁yetiThematicization of the athematic stative verbal...
13Proto-Indo-European-yetiCreates transitive imperfective verbs from roots

Words derived from “illumination”

  • transillumination
  • reillumination
  • endoillumination
  • counterillumination
  • preillumination
  • overillumination
  • イルミネーション
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yeti →