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.

-- Webster's unabridged 1913