illuminate
to light up or make clear
Root
- luc / lum: light, shine, or make clear
Other words with the luc / lum root
- elucidate: to make clear
- illumination: light; clarification or understanding
- lucid: clear and easy to understand
- luminous: giving off light; bright
- pellucid: very clear; allowing light through
- translucent: letting light through but not fully clear
Illuminate keeps one image: put light on a room, then put light on an idea.
One good example can illuminate a whole family of words.
Illuminate keeps both meanings alive. A lamp illuminates a desk; a good example illuminates a difficult sentence. The same image does the work: darkness loses.