• vt. 阐明，说明；照亮；使灿烂；用灯装饰
• vi. 照亮

il-,进入，使，-lum,发光，照亮，词源同light,luminary.引申词义解释，说明。

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.

我们这位有趣的老师几乎能解释清楚我们所学的所有科目.

来自《简明英汉词典》

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

我们用探照灯照射敌机为的是向其射击.

来自《简明英汉词典》

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

他们用游戏和图画来阐明他们的主题。

来自辞典例句

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

正确的猜测能节省时间,但即使是错误的猜测也能对解决问题有所启发.

来自辞典例句

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

汤姆挤到后边,好让贝基借着他的灯光看个够.

来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险