Definition: illuminate

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7 

illuminate
     v 1: make lighter or brighter; "This lamp lightens the room a
          bit" [syn: light, illume, illumine, light up]
     2: make free from confusion or ambiguity; make clear: "Could
        you clarify these remarks?"; "Clear up the question of who
        is at fault" [syn: clarify, clear, clear up, shed
        light on, crystallize, crystallise, crystalize, crystalise,
         straighten out, sort out, enlighten, elucidate]
        [ant: confuse]
     3: paint, as of medieval manuscripts

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 

Illuminate \Il*lu"mi*nate\, v. i.
   To light up in token or rejoicing.
Illuminate \Il*lu"mi*nate\, a. [L. illuminatus, p. p.]
   Enlightened. --Bp. Hall.
Illuminate \Il*lu"mi*nate\, n.
   One who enlightened; esp., a pretender to extraordinary light
   and knowledge.
Illuminate \Il*lu"mi*nate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Illuminated;
   p. pr. & vb. n. Illuminating.] [L. illuminatus, p. p. of
   illuminare; pref. il- in + luminare to enlighten, fr. lumen
   light. See Luminous, and cf. Illume, Illumine,
   Enlimn, Limn.]
   1. To make light; to throw light on; to supply with light,
      literally or figuratively; to brighten.

   2. To light up; to decorate with artificial lights, as a
      building or city, in token of rejoicing or respect.

   3. To adorn, 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.

   4. To make plain or clear; to dispel the obscurity to by
      knowledge or reason; to explain; to elucidate; as, to
      illuminate a text, a problem, or a duty.