To illuminate is to supply with light or to light up. But this verb is not used in exactly the same way as the much more general verb light. For instance, light is more appropriate to talk about the action of igniting or setting something to burn, as a candle. But illuminate is more appropriate for talking about what that lit candle will do: illuminate the room! Stars illuminate the night sky, just as festive lights illuminate residential streets during the holidays. To illuminate a path forward is to shed light on the best course of action—unless of course the path is a literal one from, say, the mailbox to the front door after sunset. In which case, a flashlight should do the trick! Illuminate can also refer to shedding light on a subject, as if to make it more clear or comprehensible.

To call something poignant is to emphasize how deeply affecting or moving it is emotionally. This adjective conveys a sharpness of feeling that the more general adjective moving does not, a distinction that makes sense if you consider the full picture of the word: poignant entered English describing sensations that were painful or distressing and smells that were particularly pungent. Poignant has softened over time. Nowadays when we describe things as poignant we don’t mean they bring distress; we mean they are touching and often bittersweet.

Both words refer to a state of peaceable agreement and coexistence between persons or groups. Harmony suggests an interrelationship in which all elements blend together without social, political, or interpersonal conflict: living together in harmony. Harmony has a metaphorical, evocative feel. Concord, the more formal and less current word, is very similar in meaning, but suggests a more concrete, explicitly political unanimity between parties that have been in competition or conflict. In another, related definition, a concord is a treaty or covenant mutually agreed to by all parties. The resulting concord, in the meaning we’re concerned with here, is grounded in actual agreement and a will to maintain amity.