illustration

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The act of illustrating or the state of being illustrated.
• noun A picture or image that is used to decorate or clarify a text.
• noun An example that is used to clarify or explain something. synonym: example.
• noun Obsolete Illumination.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The act of illustrating, or of rendering clear or obvious; explanation; elucidation; exemplification.
• noun The state of being illustrated or illumined.
• noun That which illustrates. Specifically
• noun A pictorial representation, map, etc., placed in a book or other publication to elucidate the text.
• noun Illustriousness; distinction.
• noun In music, same as development

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

• noun The act of illustrating; the act of making clear and distinct; education; also, the state of being illustrated, or of being made clear and distinct.
• noun That which illustrates; a comparison or example intended to make clear or apprehensible, or to remove obscurity.
• noun A picture designed to decorate a volume or elucidate a literary work.

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

• noun The act of illustrating; the act of making clear and distinct; education; also, the state of being illustrated, or of being made clear and distinct.
• noun That which illustrates; a comparison or example intended to make clear or apprehensible, or to remove obscurity.
• noun A picture designed to decorate a volume or elucidate a literary work.

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

• noun artwork that helps make something clear or attractive
• noun an item of information that is typical of a class or group
• noun a visual representation (a picture or diagram) that is used make some subject more pleasing or easier to understand
• noun showing by example