enlightenment
enlightenment Lexical Profile
enlightenment Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The action of imparting knowledge or the state of having clear intellectual understanding and insight.
"The professor's detailed lecture brought a sense of enlightenment to the students struggling with the complex theory."
In Buddhism, Hinduism, and other Eastern traditions, a supreme state of spiritual awakening, transcendent wisdom, and liberation from the cycle of rebirth.
"Monks at the mountain monastery dedicate their lives to meditation in the pursuit of spiritual enlightenment."
A European intellectual and philosophical movement of the 17th and 18th centuries that emphasized reason, scientific inquiry, and individualism over tradition (usually capitalized as 'the Enlightenment').
"Thinkers of the Enlightenment challenged absolute monarchy and championed the principles of liberty and religious tolerance."
• Rhymes for enlightenment
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Formed in the mid-17th century from the verb 'enlighten' (from Old English 'inlihtan', meaning 'to illuminate') plus the suffix '-ment'. Its application to the 18th-century philosophical movement was adopted in the 19th century as a translation of the German 'Aufklärung'.