• vt. 闡明，說明；照亮；使燦爛；用燈裝飾
• vi. 照亮

il-,進入，使，-lum,發光，照亮，詞源同light,luminary.引申詞義解釋，說明。

illuminate

illuminate: [16] Etymologically, illuminate is a parallel construction to enlighten. It was formed in the late Latin period from the prefix in- and lūmen ‘light’ (source of English luminous). The past participle of the resulting illumināre gave English illuminate. The medieval-sounding sense ‘illustrate manuscripts’ is actually quite recent, replacing in the 18th century the parallel formation enlumine, acquired by English in the 14th century via Old French enluminer from medieval Latin inlūmināre. Illumine [14] came via Old French illuminer. Illustrate is closely related.
=> illustrate, luminous

illuminate (v.)

c. 1500, "to light up, shine on," a back-formation from illumination, or else from Latin illuminatus, past participle of illuminare (see illumination). Earlier was enlumyen (late 14c.) "decorate written material with gold, silver, bright colors," from Old French enluminer, from Late Latin inluminare; also illumine (late 14c.). Related: Illuminated; illuminating.

1. Our interesting teacher could illuminate almost any subject we studied.

我們這位有趣的老師幾乎能解釋清楚我們所學的所有科目.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

2. We illuminate the enemy plane with searchlights in order to shoot at it.

我們用探照燈照射敵機為的是向其射擊.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

3. They use games and drawings to illuminate their subject.

他們用游戲和圖畫來闡明他們的主題。

來自辭典例句

4. Intelligent guessing saves time but even wrong guesses illuminate the problem.

正確的猜測能節省時間,但即使是錯誤的猜測也能對解決問題有所啟發.

來自辭典例句

5. Tom squeezed his small body behind it in order to illuminate it for Becky's gratification.

湯姆擠到后邊,好讓貝基借著他的燈光看個夠.

來自英漢文學 - 湯姆歷險