enlighten

Etymology

It is formed from English en- + lighten,^[2][3][4][5] with the early forms inlighten and enlightenen.^[6][7][4] The OED, which revised the entry in 2010, takes it partly as an alteration of the earlier verb enlight after verbs in -en, and partly as either en- and lighten or en-, the noun light and -en;^[8][6][9] the Merriam-Webster Unabridged gives en-, light and -en.^[10] Barnhart and the ODE connect the early use with Old English inlīhtan (“to illuminate”),^[11][12] recorded in Old English poetry and in glosses for illūminō,^[13] which survives in Middle English inlighten.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

To remove dimness or blindness from the eyes, nearly always figuratively, and to give spiritual knowledge or insight: about 1384, in the early version of the Wycliffite Bible.^[8][11][2]

Semantic evolution

In the Wycliffite Bible the eyes or the heart are enlightened by God, and the religious sense of giving spiritual insight has lasted ever since.^[8][2] From the 15th century the word also meant to give greater knowledge or wisdom, and later in particular to free someone from prejudice or superstition.^[8][14] Literal senses came later and remained less common:^[2] in 1587 it was used for making something shine and for shedding light on a subject, and since 1595 for shedding light on an object or scene.^[8][2] Johnson (1755) put "to illuminate; to supply with light" first, and "to instruct" second.^[15] Pepys could still write in 1666 of a window that would enlighten the room mightily,^[16] but the sense of providing a room with light is now archaic and rare.^[8][10] Since 1811 the verb has also meant simply to inform someone about a matter, as in enlighten me.^[8] Its noun enlightenment (1669) was later used to translate German Aufklärung, for the philosophical movement of the 18th century.^[11][9]

Timeline

• c. 1384 – to remove blindness from the eyes; to give spiritual insight, in the Wycliffite Bible.^[8][11]
• before 1500 – to give greater knowledge or wisdom.^[8]
• 1587 – to make luminous (obsolete by 1763); to shed light on a subject.^[8]
• 1595 – to shed light on an object or scene.^[8][2]
• before 1599 – to provide a room or building with light (now archaic).^[8]
• 1660s – to supply with intellectual light.^[2]
• 1811 – to inform a person about a subject or situation.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To give someone information or understanding about something; to inform: Could you enlighten me about the new rules?^[14][10][8]
2. To free from ignorance, prejudice or superstition.^[14][10][8]
3. To give spiritual or religious insight to.^[14][10][8]
4. (poetic, archaic) To shed light on; to illuminate.^[14][10][8]

Word family

• enlightener
• enlightenedly
• enlightenedness
• enlighteningly
• enlightenment

Related words

• lighten
• light

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
12. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
14. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
15. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
16. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray