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enlighten

verb
/ɪnˈlaɪtən/

Etymology

Formerly also inlighten, from Middle English enlightenen, inlightnen, a hybrid formed from inlighten (“to enlighten, illuminate”), from Old English inlīhtan, onlīhtan, enlīhtan (“to enlighten, illuminate, give light to, give sight to”) and lightnen (“to enlighten, illuminate”) (equivalent to light + -en). Cognate with Dutch inlichten (“to enlighten, inform”), Old High German inliuhten (“to enlighten, illuminate”), Gothic 𐌹𐌽𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌷𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (inliuhtjan, “to enlighten, illuminate”). More at inlight, -en.

  1. inherited from inlīhtan
  2. inherited from enlightenen

Definitions

  1. To supply with light.

    • The sun enlightens the Earth.

  2. To make something clear to (someone)

    To make something clear to (someone); to give knowledge or understanding to.

    • She tried to enlighten them about the rules of the program, but they remained belligerently and self-righteously ignorant.
    • Care to enlighten me, if you think I'm so benighted?

The neighborhood

Derived

enlightenable, enlightener, enlightenment

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for enlighten. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA