illuminati

American  

[ih-loo-muh-nah-tee, -ney-tahy] / ɪˌlu məˈnɑ ti, -ˈneɪ taɪ /

plural noun

singular

illuminato

1. persons possessing, or claiming to possess, superior enlightenment.

2. (initial capital letter) a name given to different religious societies or sects because of their claim to superior enlightenment.

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Illuminati ¹ British  

/ ɪˌluːmɪˈnɑːtiː /

plural noun

1. any of several groups of illuminati, esp in 18th-century France

2. a group of religious enthusiasts of 16th-century Spain who were persecuted by the Inquisition

3. a masonic sect founded in Bavaria in 1778 claiming that the illuminating grace of Christ resided in it alone

4. a rare name for the Rosicrucians

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illuminati ² British  

/ ɪˌluːmɪˈnɑːtiː /

plural noun

1. a group of persons claiming exceptional enlightenment on some subject, esp religion

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Etymology

Origin of illuminati

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin illūminātī, plural of illūminātus “enlightened”; illuminate

Example Sentences

From the road, it can be identified only from its logo: an illuminati eye nestled into a pyramid, which sheds a tear into a river that vanishes into the horizon.

From Los Angeles Times • May 8, 2024

In scathing, often florid language, the report compared the board to a "pyramid scheme," a "self-styled illuminati" and a fish that "rots from the head down."

From Salon • Sep. 2, 2022

One was an illuminati sign, a pyramid with an eye.

From Slate • Aug. 3, 2018

I am but a conduit by which the fantasy golf illuminati yield up their secrets to the forces of evolution.

From Golf Digest • Feb. 15, 2018

"That one," she responded, indicating the one in which the Pennimans themselves lived, "is occupied by one of the illuminati of the city."

From As I Remember Recollections of American Society during the Nineteenth Century by Gouverneur, Marian