illumination

il·lu·mi·na·tion/ɪˌlumɪˈneɪʃən/noun

illumination is spelled I-L-L-U-M-I-N-A-T-I-O-N: 12 letters and 5 syllables (il·lu·mi·na·tion). It appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,297th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, illumination means “The act of illuminating, or supplying with light; the state of being illuminated” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of illumination is illuminations.

How many letters and syllables are in illumination?

Letters	12: I-L-L-U-M-I-N-A-T-I-O-N
Syllables	5: il·lu·mi·na·tion
In writing	2.2 times per million words; the 18,297th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched	none measured in search
Rhymes with	situation association population administration more

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is illumination?

Illumination appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,297th most frequent word form in the list.

illumination0.0010.010.11101001,00010,000

rarerper million words of written Englishmore common

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce illumination?

US /ɪˌlumɪˈneɪʃən/
UK /ɪˌl(j)umɪˈneɪʃən/

Illumination has 5 syllables, split il·lu·mi·na·tion in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-illumination.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with illumination?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as illumination from its last stressed vowel (/eɪʃən/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of illumination

illuminations plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does illumination mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

1
The act of illuminating, or supplying with light; the state of being illuminated.
The room was filled with soft illumination from the candles.
2
Festive decoration of houses or buildings with lights.
3
Adornment of books and manuscripts with colored illustrations. See illuminate (transitive verb).
4
Splendour; brightness.
5
Enlightening influence; inspiration.
The philosopher’s work gave intellectual illumination to many.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Illumination in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

Language	Words
French	illumination (the act of illuminating, or supplying with…), enluminure (adornment of books and manuscripts with colored…)
German	Beleuchtung (the act of illuminating, or supplying with…)
Portuguese	iluminação (the act of illuminating, or supplying with…), iluminura (adornment of books and manuscripts with colored…)
Spanish	iluminación (the act of illuminating, or supplying with…), ilustración (adornment of books and manuscripts with colored…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.