illustrative

Etymology

It is formed from English illustrate + -ive,^[2][3] or, in the OED's and Etymonline's analysis, from Latin illūstrāt-, the participial stem of illūstrō (“to light up, illuminate, elucidate”), with the suffix -ive.^[4][5] The Latin verb is formed from in- (“in”) and lūstrō (“to make bright”), from Proto-Indo-European *leuk- (“light, brightness”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Serving to illustrate, explain or make clear; giving an example: 1643, in Browne's Religio Medici.^[4][7] Etymonline dates it to the 1640s,^[5] and Dictionary.com to 1635–45.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its first meaning, "serving to explain or exemplify", often followed by of.^[4][7] Johnson (1755) defined it as having the quality of elucidating, quoting Browne's phrase "illustrative argumentation".^[8] A rare literal sense "shining, illuminating", closer to the Latin verb, is recorded once, in 1686.^[4]

Timeline

• 1643 – serving to explain or make clear; providing an example.^[4][7]
• 1686 – shining, illuminating (rare, obsolete).^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Serving to illustrate, explain or give an example: an illustrative story or a comment illustrative of her views.^[7][4][2]

Word family

• illustratively
• nonillustrative
• unillustrative

Related words

• illustrate
• illustration
• illustrious

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.