Reilluminate

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Lighting up something once more after it has gone dark or been left without light
2. Bringing fresh light back to a place, object or subject that had previously been dimmed
3. Restoring brightness or illumination to something a second time, often by renewed lighting

Etymology: "Reilluminate" is simply "re-" attached to "illuminate," so there is no hidden story in its construction. The prefix "re-" comes from Latin and means "again" or "back," so the verb means to light up again, or to restore light to something that has gone dark. "Illuminate" carries the older history. It descends from Latin "illuminare," meaning "to light up" or "to brighten," built from "in-" and "lumen" ("light"). English long used the word in its literal sense of lighting a space, and it later took on the figurative sense of making something clear to the mind, which is why "illuminate" can describe both a lamp-lit room and an explained idea. Because "reilluminate" follows the same pattern, it inherits both senses: physically relighting a lamp or a city, or bringing a subject back into understanding.

Synonyms: relight, rekindle

Antonyms: extinguish, darken