Select the most appropriate synonym of the given word: ILLUMINATE

Correct — A. Illuminate has two senses: to light something up, and to make something clear, as a good teacher illuminates a hard idea.

No option means 'light up', so the item is testing the second sense. Explain, to make an idea clear, is that sense → option (a).

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  Darken — Darken means to make darker, the opposite of the literal sense, to light up. It is an antonym placed among the options.
• (c)
  Destroy — Destroy means to ruin completely. It has no link to light or to clarity, in either sense of illuminate.
• (d)
  Hide — Hide means to keep out of sight or keep secret, which runs against the figurative sense, to make clear.

Illuminate comes from Latin lumen, 'light'. Its literal sense is to light up a room, a street or a stage.

English carries the light over to the mind: to throw light on a subject is to make it understandable. That figurative sense gives the synonyms explain, clarify, elucidate, shed light on.

When the literal synonyms (brighten, light up) are missing from the options, look for the figurative one.

Key facts

• Illuminate has a literal sense, to light up, and a figurative one, to make clear or explain.
• Its root is Latin lumen, 'light', shared with luminous and luminary.
• Clarify, elucidate and shed light on are synonyms of the figurative sense.

Common traps

• Picking Darken because it is the only option about light, when it is the opposite of light up
• Treating illuminate as a purely physical word and ruling out Explain

No directly related past PYQ was found.