illumine

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*lewk-“to shine; to see; bright”
2. Latin · derived fromillūmināre
3. Old French · derived fromilluminer“to light up, illuminate; (figuratively) to enlighten”
4. Middle English · inherited fromilluminen“to light, light up; to shine; (figuratively) to enlighten spiritually; to make illustrious”
5. English todayillumine

From Middle English illuminen (“to light, light up; to shine; (figuratively) to enlighten spiritually; to make illustrious”) [and other forms], from Old French illuminer (“to light up, illuminate; (figuratively) to enlighten”) (modern French illuminer), from Latin illūmināre, the present active infinitive of illūminō (“to light up, illuminate; to brighten; to adorn; to make conspicuous”), from il- (variant of in- (prefix meaning ‘in, within’; intensifying prefix)) + lūminō (“to illuminate; to brighten; (figuratively) to reveal”) (from lūmen (“light; light source; (poetic) brightness; daylight”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“to shine; to see; bright”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)).

Words from the same roots