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)

Something that is representative of all such things in a group.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-26, author=(Leo Hickman)

, volume=189, issue=7, page=26, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= How algorithms rule the world , passage=The use of algorithms in policing is one example of their increasing influence on our lives. And, as their ubiquity spreads, so too does the debate around whether we should allow ourselves to become so reliant on them – and who, if anyone, is policing their use.}}

Something that serves to illustrate or explain a rule.

* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= David Van Tassel], [http://www.americanscientist.org/authors/detail/lee-dehaan Lee DeHaan

, title= Wild Plants to the Rescue , volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Plant breeding is always a numbers game.

Something that serves as a pattern of behaviour to be imitated (a good example) or not to be imitated (a bad example).

* Bible, (w) xiii, 15

For I have given you an example , that ye should do as I have done to you.

* (John Milton)

I gave, thou sayest, the example ; I led the way.

* 1818 , (Mary Shelley), :

Learn from me, if not by my precepts, then at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge,

*

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on an afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track.

A person punished as a warning to others.

* (William Shakespeare)

Hang him; he'll be made an example .

* Bible, x, 6

Now these things were our examples , to the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

A parallel or closely similar case, especially when serving as a precedent or model.

* (William Shakespeare)

Such temperate order in so fierce a cause / Doth want example .

An instance (as a problem to be solved) serving to illustrate the rule or precept or to act as an exercise in the application of the rule.