illustro

Forms

illūstrō (present infinitive illūstrāre, perfect active illūstrāvī, supine illūstrātum); first conjugation^[1] It is also spelled inlūstrō.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- + lūstrō (“to illuminate”).^[2][1] Lewis & Short derive it from the adjective illūstris (“bright, famous”).^[3] De Vaan lists both words among the derivatives of lūx (“light”), which goes back to Proto-Italic *louk- (“light”) and Proto-Indo-European *leuk- (“light”).^[4] Cognate with Ancient Greek λευκός (leukós, “clear, white”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Lucretius.^[4] Cicero has it of the temple of Jupiter that should have shone with an object's brilliance.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short note that it is especially frequent in the figurative senses.^[3] Literally it is to shine upon or light up, as Horace's sun lighting the habitable shores.^[2][3] Figuratively it is to throw light on, make clear, as Cicero says Catiline's departure has exposed and revealed everything, and to give glory or lustre, as men raised by fortune or their own labour, or to adorn, as the Capitol with its three temples.^[2] Apuleius uses it of being enlightened by initiation in the rites of Osiris.^[2]

Church Latin glosses it to enlighten, adorn, illuminate, glorify, illustrate and explain.^[5] English illustrate (1520s, light up) is a back-formation from illustration and partly from the Latin participle.^[6]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it.^[4][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a shining temple and of revealing a plot.^[2][7]
• 65–8 BC – Horace of the sun lighting the shores.^[3][7]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius of initiation in the rites of Osiris.^[2][7]
• 1520s – English illustrate, to light up.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To shine upon, light up, illuminate.^[2][3][1]
2. To throw light on, make clear, elucidate.^[2][3][1]
3. To give glory or lustre to, make famous; to embellish.^[2][1]
4. To enlighten.^[2][5]
5. To extend one's course into.^[2]

Word family

• illustrāmentum
• illūstratiō
• illūstrātor
• illustratus

Related words

• illūstrē
• illūstris
• lūx
• English illustrate

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de