Illustrations ˌɪləˈstreɪʃn Detailed Noun Full Colour Animals Birds Plants

• 50 full-colour illustrations
• detailed illustrations of animals, birds and plants
• a volume of chaucer with illustrations by edward burne-jones
• he produced illustrations for children's books.

illustration

1. a drawing or picture in a book, magazine, for decoration or to explain something
• 50 full-colour illustrations
• detailed illustrations of animals, birds and plants
• a volume of Chaucer with illustrations by Edward Burne-Jones
• He produced illustrations for children's books.

Extra Examples

• His illustrations have appeared in the pages of numerous publications.
• The kite is assembled as shown in the illustration.
• a wonderful book with full-page illustrations
• the illustrations accompanying the text
• the new Inca map, with a detailed illustration of ancient Machu Picchu
• The illustration on page 10 shows the layout of the area.
2. the process of illustrating something
• the art of book illustration
3. a story, an event or an example that clearly shows the truth about something
• The statistics are a clear illustration of the point I am trying to make.
• I use this case as an illustration.
• Let me, by way of illustration, quote from one of her poems.

Extra Examples

• Chicago serves as an illustration of the problems faced by such cities.
• These figures are for illustration purposes only.
• These events are a graphic illustration of the fact that their promises cannot be trusted.
• It was a textbook illustration of the way the UN works.
• Explain the policy of détente and provide some illustrations of how it worked in practice.
• As an illustration of this point, I'm going to tell you a true story.

Word Origin

• late Middle English (in the sense ‘illumination; spiritual or intellectual enlightenment’): via Old French from Latin illustratio(n-), from the verb illustrare, from in- ‘upon’ + lustrare ‘illuminate’.