Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Provided with artificial light; lit up: Describes something that has been made bright or visible through the use of lamps, bulbs, or other man-made light sources.
   • Decorated with lights for a special effect: Often used to describe buildings, streets, or objects adorned with lights for celebration, decoration, or display.
   • Clarified or enlightened intellectually (less common, figurative): In a more specialized or historical context, it can refer to a manuscript decorated with gold, silver, or brilliant colors, or metaphorically to a mind that has been enlightened.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The illuminated manuscript from the Middle Ages was breathtaking. (The manuscript decorated with gold and colors was breathtaking.)
  • The city's monuments are beautifully illuminated at night. (The city's monuments are beautifully lit up at night.)
  • The professor's lecture left me feeling illuminated about the complex topic. (The professor's lecture left me feeling intellectually enlightened about the complex topic.)

Advanced Usage

• "to be illuminated": to be lit up or made bright.
  • The path was illuminated by a row of solar-powered lamps.
• "illuminated sign": a sign that is lit from within or behind to be visible.
  • The old theater's illuminated sign could be seen from blocks away.

Variants and Related Words

• Illuminate (verb): to light up or make clear.
  • The fireworks illuminated the night sky.
• Illumination (noun): the act of lighting or the state of being lit; intellectual or spiritual enlightenment.
  • The illumination of the stadium was necessary for the evening game.
• Illuminating (adjective): providing clarity or insight.
  • She gave an illuminating explanation of the economic principles.

Synonyms

• Lit: provided with light.
• Lighted: made bright with light.
• Aglow: glowing with light or color.
• Alight (archaic/literary): on fire; lighted.

Related Phrases

• Illuminated initial: In manuscript design, a large, decorated letter at the beginning of a text.
  • The book's first chapter began with an elaborate illuminated initial.

Adjective

1. provided with artificial light
   • illuminated advertising
   • looked up at the lighted windows
   • a brightly lit room
   • a well-lighted stairwell