Definitions

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective rendered luminous by rays of light striking and reflecting; -- used especially of illumination by artificial light.
  • adjective Adorned with pictorial or graphical designs, as a book or page with borders, initial letters, or miniature pictures in colors and gold, as was done in manuscripts of the Middle Ages.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective irradiated by light, lit
  • adjective of a manuscript decorated and illustrated.
  • verb Simple past tense and past participle of illuminate.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective provided with artificial light

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The term 'illuminated' refers to handpainted manuscripts flecked with gold, which created a flickering effect when viewed by candlelight.

    Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph 2011

  • The term 'illuminated' refers to handpainted manuscripts flecked with gold, which created a flickering effect when viewed by candlelight.

    Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph 2011

  • When I arrived with Mr and Mrs Drummond many of the company were there; the garden was what they called illuminated, that is, every gooseberry-bush had one variegated lamp suspended above the centre; and, as Mr Tomkins told me afterwards, the lamps were red and yellow, according to the fruit they bore.

    Jacob Faithful Frederick Marryat 1820

  • Both of these contain illuminated initials in which Saint John is dressed as a bishop (as he appeared in Kathrin's dream) celebrating Mass.

    Sensual Encounters: Monastic Women and Spirituality in Medieval Germany 2008

  • This depiction, often sculptural as the Vesperbilder usually were but sometimes painted or illuminated, is based on the biblical passages describing the Last Supper.

    Sensual Encounters: Monastic Women and Spirituality in Medieval Germany 2008

  • In ordinary daylight, a cup made of the glass appeared green, but then it glowed ruby when illuminated from the inside.

    Another Step Towards an Invisibility Cloak | Impact Lab 2007

  • Usually it refers to some small, original version of a much larger thing (Wisconsin's welfare program was said to be the homunculus version of the federal Welfare Reform Act of 1996; Iceland's ancient parliament, the Althing, is the homunculus version of Congress), but it can also mean someone who resembles the homunculi depicted in illuminated treatises.

    Never Mind 2004

  • Usually it refers to some small, original version of a much larger thing (Wisconsin's welfare program was said to be the homunculus version of the federal Welfare Reform Act of 1996; Iceland's ancient parliament, the Althing, is the homunculus version of Congress), but it can also mean someone who resembles the homunculi depicted in illuminated treatises.

    Never Mind 2004

  • Written in illuminated Latin, with informal marginalia in Greek, the Codex bore the signature of Udo himself.

    Archive 1999-04-01 Ray Girvan 1999

  • Written in illuminated Latin, with informal marginalia in Greek, the Codex bore the signature of Udo himself.

    The Mandelbrot Monk Ray Girvan 1999

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  • In printing, used to describe a manuscript or book that has been decorated with colors and with liquid gold or silver; often seen in incunabula.

    Here's a detail from a 12th-century illuminated manuscript known as the Aberdeen Bestiary.

    February 25, 2008