irradiate
/ɪˈɹeɪdɪət/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 1.94 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
4
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To send out (heat, light, or some other form of radiation) in the form of rays; to radiate.
Literary; Transitive verb
verb
To make (someone or something) bright by shining light on them or it; to brighten, to illuminate.
Literary; Transitive verb
verb
To apply radiation other than visible light to (someone or something).
Literary; Transitive verb
verb
To apply radiation other than visible light to (someone or something).
Literary; Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "There ſeek the Theban Bard, depriv'd of ſight, / VVithin, irradiate vvith prophetic light; […]"
- "The co-existent Flame / Knew the Destroyer; it encircled him, / Roll'd up his robe, and gathered round his head, / Condensing to intenser splendour there, / His crown of glory, and his light of life, / Hovered the irradiate wreath."
- "When, disappearing from our hemisphere, / The world's enlightener vanishes, and day / On all sides wasteth, suddenly the sky, / Erewhile irradiate only with his beam, / Is yet again unfolded, putting forth / Innumerable lights wherein one shines."
- "Such vvere thy gifts, Pedmálá, ſuch thy povv'r! / For, vvhen thy smile irradiates yon blue fields, / Obſervant Indra ſends the genial ſhovv'r."
- "Thou cheerful light of day! […] thou ſplendid luminary of Natur! thou no longer irradiateſt my eyes or exhilarateſt my ſoul! The ſeaſons ſtill follovv each other, and year ſucceeds to year; but to me day no more returns."
- "Who hath watched / The midnight lightnings of the summer storm, / That, with their aweful blaze, irradiate heaven, / Then leave a blacker night?"
Etymology
From Middle English irradiate (“illuminated, shining”), borrowed from Medieval Latin irradiātus, perfect passive participle of irradiō, from ir- (“against; into; on, upon”) + radiō (“to cause to radiate, irradiate; to emit beams, radiate”), from radius (“ray of light; rod, staff; spoke of a wheel”) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix) (further etymology uncertain; possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *reh₁t- (“beam; pole; post”)). The adjective is attested earlier than the verb. The English word is analysable as in- (“against; into; on, upon”) + radiate.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɪˈɹeɪdɪət/
- British English: /ɪˈɹeɪdɪət/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more irradiate (comparative)
most irradiate (superlative)
irradiates (present, singular)
irradiating (participle, present)
irradiated (participle, past)
irradiated (past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
irradiated (first person, past)
irradiatest (archaic, present)
irradiated (past, second person)
irradiatedst (archaic, past)