Added 9 October 2026
illustrious
/ɪˈlʌs.tɹɪ.əs/ adjective
In Latin: pulchrum, illustris Wiktionary
adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about illustrious at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- Admired, distinguished, respected, or well-known. .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}
Origin
From Latin illūstris (“bright, shining; distinguished, prominent, illustrious”) + -ous (suffix forming adjectives from nouns, to denote possession or presence of a quality in any degree). Illūstris is derived from illūstrō (“to brighten, illuminate; to make famous or illustrious”), from in- (“in, inside”) + lūstrō (“to purify by making a sacrifice; to brighten, illuminate”) (from lūstrō (“purificatory sacrifice”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“bright; to shine”) or *lewh₃- (“to wash”)).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)