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• enlightenment
  enlightenment

  noun

  the act of enlightening.
• Enlightenment
  Enlightenment

  noun

  an 18th-century philosophical movement stressing the importance of reason and the critical reappraisal of existing ideas and social institutions

enlightenment

American  

[en-lahyt-n-muhnt] / ɛnˈlaɪt n mənt /

noun

1. the act of enlightening.

2. the state of being enlightened.

   to live in spiritual enlightenment.

3. (usually initial capital letter) prajna.

4. the Enlightenment, a philosophical movement of the 18th century, characterized by belief in the power of human reason and by innovations in political, religious, and educational doctrine.

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Enlightenment ¹ British  

/ ɪnˈlaɪtənmənt /

noun

1. an 18th-century philosophical movement stressing the importance of reason and the critical reappraisal of existing ideas and social institutions

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enlightenment ² British  

/ ɪnˈlaɪtənmənt /

noun

1. the act or means of enlightening or the state of being enlightened

2. Buddhism the awakening to ultimate truth by which man is freed from the endless cycle of personal reincarnations to which all men are otherwise subject

3. Hinduism a state of transcendent divine experience represented by Vishnu: regarded as a goal of all religion

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Enlightenment Cultural  

1. An intellectual movement of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries marked by a celebration of the powers of human reason, a keen interest in science, the promotion of religious toleration, and a desire to construct governments free of tyranny. Some of the major figures of the Enlightenment were David Hume, Immanuel Kant, John Locke, the Baron de Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Voltaire.

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Other Word Forms

• preenlightenment
  noun
• reenlightenment
  noun

Etymology

Origin of enlightenment

First recorded in 1660–70; enlighten + -ment

Explanation

Enlightenment is education or awareness that brings change, such as your enlightenment about nutrition that leads you to throw out every last bit of your family's junk food. In Hinduism and Buddhism, enlightenment is also sometimes called "awakening" — after all, the name "Buddha" means "the awakened one." Not all enlightenments are spiritual: your enlightenment about environmental issues, for example, can awaken you to new ways of conserving resources like water and electricity. The Enlightenment started in the 1700s, a historical era defined by a focus on reason and science.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

enlightenment Enlightenment

It takes souls many incarnations to attain enlightenment.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

Rebecca Nagle: The part we all know is the part where Thomas Jefferson is pontificating about these enlightenment ideals.

From Slate ● Jul. 3, 2026

Repetition and ritual are paths to enlightenment in Mr. Morby’s songs, and the quietly powerful “Little Wide Open” is filled with earned wisdom.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026

McDade says institutions purchased the book because, during the enlightenment, their members had a "great curiosity" about the wider world.

From BBC ● May 1, 2026

Why did Gotama once sit down beneath the bo tree in his greatest hour when he received enlightenment?

From "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse

Many of these ideas can be traced back to the controversial thinker and tech founder Curtis Yarvin, who has been called the "founder of the Dark Enlightenment".

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

Each is the creation of Thomas Jefferson, that man of the Enlightenment and a believer in the authority of reason.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

The sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon, the pre-eminent portraitist of the French Enlightenment, was an ingenious synthesizer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

The Scottish Enlightenment is really kind of the origin story of the Declaration of Independence.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026

But I perked up when he said he was teaching a class on the Enlightenment.

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz

Related Words

• awareness
• civilization
• insight
• literacy
• sophistication
• understanding
• wisdom