illumination.

1. Light supplied to or falling on a place or object.

2. Decorative painting or ornament added to a manuscript, often with gold or rich color.

3. A clearer understanding or an explanation that makes something intelligible.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• dim illumination
• artificial illumination

On the page

Dim illumination reached the stairwell.

The painting changed under direct illumination.

Usage notes

Primary category: gothic. Forms: Usually uncountable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.