illuminati

[ih-loo-muh-nah-tee, -ney-tahy]

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.

Illuminati

¹

/ 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

illuminati

²

/ ɪˌluːmɪˈnɑːtiː /

plural noun

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of Illuminati¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of Illuminati¹

C16: from Latin, literally: the enlightened ones, from illūmināre to _illuminate

Example Sentences

A common No. 1: an under-one-hour “documentary” titled Illuminati, supposedly produced in 2019 by DOC TV.

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Frequently adjacent to Illuminati in the Most Watched list is another “documentary” titled Lizard People: Rulers of Time and Space.

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It's always, "If we don't win this election, we're gonna go under the control of the Illuminati and the devil's gonna be controlling us for hundreds of years."

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However, with his association with Affleck, I’m worried he’s about to be sucked up into the Boston actor illuminati.

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He joked, “Shouldn’t this gathering be happening in a volcano’s lair near Zurich? Or are we just open-sourcing the Illuminati now?”

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