counterilluminate

verb

To use photophores on the underside of the body so as to hide a dark silhouette that would otherwise be seen from below by predators

OriginEnglish illuminate ← Middle English counter- ← Anglo-Norman countre- →
Scrabble 21
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Meanings

verbcounterilluminate (third-person singular simple present counterilluminates, present participle counterilluminating, simple past and past participle counterilluminated)

present singular third person counterilluminates · participle present counterilluminating · participle past counterilluminated · past counterilluminated

  1. To use photophores on the underside of the body so as to hide a dark silhouette that would otherwise be seen from below by predators

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
  3. Proto-Italic*kom
  4. Proto-Italic*kom-
  5. Proto-Italic*komteros
  6. Proto-Italic*komterād
  7. Latincontrā
  8. Old Frenchcontre-
  9. Anglo-Normancountre-
  10. Middle Englishcounter-
  11. Englishcounter-
  12. Englishilluminate
  13. Englishcounterilluminate

From counter- + illuminate.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

counterilluminate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/counterilluminate

MLA

“counterilluminate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/counterilluminate. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “counterilluminate,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/counterilluminate.

Source: counterilluminate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.