Noun

(en noun)

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.

That which illustrates; a comparison or example intended to make clear or apprehensible, or to remove obscurity.

* {{quote-news

, year=2012 , date=June 19 , author=Phil McNulty , title=England 1-0 Ukraine , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=England will regard it as a measure of justice for Frank Lampard's disallowed goal against Germany in Bloemfontein at the 2010 World Cup - but it was also an illustration of how they rode their luck for long periods in front of a predictably partisan home crowd.}}

A picture designed to decorate a volume or elucidate a literary work.

A calculated prevision of insurance premiums and returns (life insurance)"an illustration [...] is a computer projection of future premiums, cash values and death benefits based on the current dividend scale (whole life) or current interest rates and current costs of insurance (universal life)." taken from http://www.evaluatelifeinsurance.org

Noun

(en noun)

That which attends, or relates to, or in some way affects, a fact or event; an attendant thing or state of things.

* Washington Irving

The circumstances are well known in the country where they happened.

* {{quote-book, year=1905, author=

, title= , chapter=1 citation , passage=“The story of this adoption is, of course, the pivot round which all the circumstances of the mysterious tragedy revolved. Mrs. Yule had an only son, namely, William, to whom she was passionately attached ; but, like many a fond mother, she had the desire of mapping out that son's future entirely according to her own ideas. […]”}}

An event; a fact; a particular incident.

* Addison

The sculptor had in his thoughts the conqoeror weeping for new worlds, or the like circumstances in history.

* 1834 , David Crockett, A Narrative of the Life of , Nebraska 1987, p. 20:

Then another circumstance happened, which made a lasting impression on my memory, though I was but a small child.

Circumlocution; detail.

* Shakespeare

So without more circumstance at all / I hold it fit that we shake hands and part.

Condition in regard to worldly estate; state of property; situation; surroundings.

* Addison

When men are easy in their circumstances , they are naturally enemies to innovations.