Adjacent Words

Illustration definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ILLUSTRA'TION, n. The act of rendering bright or glorious.
1. Explanation; elucidation; a rendering clear what is obscure or abstruse.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: artwork that helps make something clear or attractive
2: showing by example [syn: exemplification, illustration]
3: an item of information that is typical of a class or group; "this patient provides a typical example of the syndrome"; "there is an example on page 10" [syn: example, illustration, instance, representative]
4: a visual representation (a picture or diagram) that is used make some subject more pleasing or easier to understand

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 14th century 1. a. the action of illustrating ; the condition of being illustrated b. archaic the action of making illustrious or honored or distinguished 2. something that serves to illustrate: as a. an example or instance that helps make something clear b. a picture or diagram that helps make something clear or attractive Synonyms: see instance • illustrational adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a drawing or picture illustrating a book, magazine article, etc. 2 an example serving to elucidate. 3 the act or an instance of illustrating. Derivatives: illustrational adj. Etymology: ME f. OF f. L illustratio -onis (as ILLUSTRATE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Illustration Il`lus*tra"tion, n. [L. illustratio: cf. F. illustration.] 1. The act of illustrating; the act of making clear and distinct; education; also, the state of being illustrated, or of being made clear and distinct. 2. That which illustrates; a comparison or example intended to make clear or apprehensible, or to remove obscurity. 3. A picture designed to decorate a volume or elucidate a literary work.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(illustrations) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. An illustration is an example or a story which is used to make a point clear. ...a perfect illustration of the way Britain absorbs and adapts external influences. N-COUNT: oft N of n 2. An illustration in a book is a picture, design, or diagram. She looked like a princess in a nineteenth-century illustration. N-COUNT 3. see also illustrate

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Elucidation, explanation, exemplification. 2. Illustrative picture.

Moby Thesaurus

abstract, abstraction, acrylic painting, allegorization, alphabet, altarpiece, art, block print, blueprint, case, case history, case in point, charactering, characterization, chart, choreography, citation, clarification, collage, color print, coloring, conventional representation, copy, cracking, cross reference, cyclorama, dance notation, daub, decipherment, decoding, delineation, demonstration, demythologization, depiction, depictment, diagram, diptych, drama, drawing, editing, elucidation, emblem, emendation, encaustic cerography, encaustic painting, engraving, enlightenment, euhemerism, example, exegesis, exemplar, exemplification, explanation, explication, exponent, exposition, expounding, figuration, figure, finger painting, flower painting, for instance, fresco, fresco painting, genre painting, gouache, grisaille, hieroglyphic, icon, iconography, ideogram, illumination, image, imagery, imaging, impasto, instance, item, letter, light, likeness, limning, logogram, logograph, map, miniature, monochrome, montage, mosaic, mural, mural painting, musical notation, notation, object lesson, oil painting, painting, panorama, particular, photograph, pictogram, picture, picturization, plan, portraiture, portrayal, poster painting, prefigurement, presentment, print, printing, problem, projection, quotation, rationale, realization, reason, reference, relevant instance, rendering, rendition, representation, representative, reproduction, sample, sampling, schema, score, script, simplification, solution, specimen, stained glass window, stencil, still life, syllabary, symbol, tablature, tableau, tapestry, the brush, triptych, type, typical example, unlocking, wall painting, wash, wash drawing, writing