illuminer

Forms

illuminer^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin illūminō (“to light up, adorn, make famous”), borrowed about 1200.^[2][3][4] In Christian Latin the verb also meant “to give sight to”, “to instruct” and “to enlighten the soul by grace”.^[2][3] It is formed from in- and lūmen (“light”),^[3][4][5] which Rey derives from a form *leuk-s-men, from Proto-Indo-European *leuk- (“to be bright”), the root also of lūx.^[3] The verb enluminer goes back to the same Latin word.^[2][6][1]

Littré compares Old Occitan illuminar, Spanish iluminar and Italian illuminare.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1200 the Dialogues of Saint Gregory use illuminer les avogles, “to give sight to the blind”, the sense of Christian Latin.^[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

About 1350 Gilles li Muisis used it for giving out light and for enlightening someone with divine truth.^[2][3] Oresme wrote that la lune est illuminée du soleil, “the moon is lit by the sun”.^[7] From the 14th to the 17th century it was also used in the sense of enluminer, to illuminate a manuscript, as when La Boétie speaks of livres illuminez.^[3][7] In 1694 the Académie records its use for decking a building or a street with lights for a festivity.^[2][3]

The past participle illuminé meant “intelligent” in 1564; as a noun it named an enlightened mind and, in the history of religions, a mystic believing in inner illumination (1625), then a visionary (1690).^[3][2] From 1791 it was also said of a person who blindly follows his inspirations.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – First recorded, meaning “to give sight to the blind”.^[2]
• c. 1350 – Gilles li Muisis uses it for shedding light and for divine enlightenment.^[2]
• 1564 – The participle illuminé means “intelligent”.^[2][3]
• 1690 – Furetière records illuminé “visionary”.^[2]
• 1694 – The Académie records the sense “to light up for a festivity”.^[2]
• 1791 – Illuminé is used of a person who follows his inspirations blindly.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To light up brightly: les lampadaires illuminent la place.^[8][2]
2. To decorate a building or a street with lights for a fête.^[8][7]
3. To give a bright glow to, to brighten: un sourire illumina son visage; reflexive s'illuminer, to light up.^[8][7]
4. (religion) To enlighten with the light of truth.^[8][2]
5. (figurative) To enlighten the mind.^[7][1]

Word family

• illuminé
• illumineur
• illuminisme

Related words

• lumière
• lumineux
• enluminer
• Latin illūminō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert