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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

Upon arriving in India on 30 May, Min Aung Hlaing visited Bodh Gaya and offered prayers at the Mahabodhi Temple, built at the site where Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment.

From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026

In the mid-1970s, Florida began a period of environmental enlightenment.

From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026

Supporting a plurality of religious beliefs, along with the freedom to hold none at all, was part of the brilliant enlightenment they wrote into the Constitution.

From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2026

A koan is like a riddle that’s supposed to help you toward enlightenment in Zen Buddhism.

From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green

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

While France and the U.S. invoked the Enlightenment in their founding principles and constitutions, Germany built its postwar institutions on the memory of the Shoah.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026

It embodies the same tragic idealism of the Enlightenment, the same striving for perfection in an imperfect world, that informed the American founding.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026

Having recently declared its independence from the powerful Spanish Empire, it embraced more fully than any other nation of its time the European Enlightenment.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Related Words

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