Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To give spiritual or intellectual insight to.
- transitive verb To give information to; inform or instruct.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To shed light upon; supply with light; illuminate.
- To give intellectual or spiritual light to; illuminate by increase of knowledge and wisdom; instruct; impart knowledge to: as, to
enlighten an ignorant community; she was soon enlightened as to his motives. - Synonyms To illume, illumine, irradiate.
- To teach.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To supply with light; to illuminate.
- transitive verb To make clear to the intellect or conscience; to shed the light of truth and knowledge upon; to furnish with increase of knowledge; to instruct.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To supply with light; to illuminate; as, the sun enlightens the earth.
- verb To make clear to the intellect or conscience; to shed the light of truth and knowledge upon; to furnish with increase of knowledge; to instruct; as, to enlighten the mind or understanding.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb give spiritual insight to; in religion
- verb make free from confusion or ambiguity; make clear
- verb make understand
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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To enlighten is to bring light where there had previously been darkness, to replace opinion, i.e., superstition, by scientific knowledge of nature, beginning from phenomena available to all men and ending in rational demonstration possible for all men.
THE CLOSING OF THE AMERICAN MIND Allan Bloom 2003
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To enlighten is to bring light where there had previously been darkness, to replace opinion, i.e., superstition, by scientific knowledge of nature, beginning from phenomena available to all men and ending in rational demonstration possible for all men.
THE CLOSING OF THE AMERICAN MIND Allan Bloom 2003
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ROMULO: My friend, Mr. Ellis will have heard this term: it's called enlighten self-interest.
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Some voices argue that we need to do a better job of firing youngsters 'imaginations when it comes to teaching history, by using learning tools that excite as well as enlighten - in other words making better use of edutainment, as it's known.
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I wish I could -- enlighten, that is -- but I'm still baffled as to this condescending attitude of "I can do it myself".
Modestly Yours 2008
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In March, Narang began meeting with SEC commissioners to try to "enlighten" them about HFT.
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While I think this is a great list, and try my best to follow this kind of advice, I have put waaay more effort into "letting it go" when I see infractions than I used to put into helping "enlighten" people who I thought would appreciate it.
The Essentials Of Email Etiquette | Lifehacker Australia 2009
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When I said "enlighten" I was only saying, you may get some information that you do not already have that may add to your perspective on the situation, Stroszek.
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Citizenship, school councils, and the like are all nonsense, brought about by well meaning but naive people who hoped to "enlighten" the next generation to think like them, without realising that they didn't think very much at all and now implemented by people who don't even believe in it.
On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with... 2008
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You could "enlighten" us with your views on Southerners...
Sources say Romney will quit. Ann Althouse 2008
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