illuminati
[ih-loo-muh-nah-tee, -ney-tahy]
- persons possessing, or claiming to possess, superior enlightenment.
- (initial capital letter) a name given to different religious societies or sects because of their claim to superior enlightenment.
Show More
Origin of illuminati
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
scholarbrainsageeggheadsavantgeniusacademicwhizphilosopherbluestockingintelligentsiaacademicianthinkerEinsteinilluminatolonghairExamples from the Web for illuminati
Contemporary Examples
As a noted feminist/ illuminati member/ Goddess/ walking Instagram video, Beyoncé certainly wears many hats/ veils/ body suits.
She believes the Illuminati are leaving secret clues in, among other places, the viral Kony 2012 video.
For example, a website accumulated all of my music videos to point out perceived Illuminati images.
The symbol is sometimes associated with the Illuminati, but that same symbol also dates back to ancient Egypt.
Illuminati is the plural of illuminatus, which means “enlightened.”
Historical Examples
The Illuminati, brothers and friends of Montgelas, have not been idle in that country.
Memoirs of the Court of St. Cloud, CompleteLewis Goldsmith
Their pretension to all knowledge, acquired for them the title of Illuminati.
Mysticism and its ResultsJohn Delafield
Of the other sects the most noteworthy was that of the Iluminados (Illuminati).
A History of SpainCharles E. Chapman
Curses and persecution for the devil's offspring, the Illuminati, we swear!
Old Fritz and the New EraLouise Muhlbach
I belong to the Illuminati, and mingle with the freethinkers.
Old Fritz and the New EraLouise Muhlbach
illuminati
- a group of persons claiming exceptional enlightenment on some subject, esp religion
Show More
Word Origin
C16: from Latin, literally: the enlightened ones, from illūmināre to illuminate
Illuminati
- any of several groups of illuminati, esp in 18th-century France
- a group of religious enthusiasts of 16th-century Spain who were persecuted by the Inquisition
- a masonic sect founded in Bavaria in 1778 claiming that the illuminating grace of Christ resided in it alone
- a rare name for the Rosicrucians
Show More
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for illuminati
n.
1590s, plural of Latin illuminatus "enlightened" (in figurative sense), past participle of illuminare (see illumination). Originally applied to a 16c. Spanish sect (the Alumbrados), then to other sects; since 1797 used as a translation of German Illuminaten, name of a secret society founded 1776 in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, and holding deistic and republican principles; hence used generally of free-thinkers and sarcastically of those professing intellectual enlightenment (1816). Related: Illuminatism; illuminatist.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper