Enlighten

Origins

Possibly inlighten (14th c.: see sense 4) was a secondary form of inlight

Definitions

• 1. trans. To put light into, make luminous.

b. To light, set light to (a lamp, a combustible). Obs.

• 2. To shed light upon, illuminate (an object, scene, etc.); to give light to (persons). Also absol. Now chiefly poet. or rhetorical.

b. fig. To throw light upon, elucidate (a subject). Obs.

• 3. a. To light, give light to (a room or building) by lamps, etc., or by windows. b. To light (a district, town, etc.); to furnish with lighting apparatus. Obs.

• 4. In Biblical phrase: To remove dimness or blindness from (the eyes, and fig. the heart). Obs.

• 5. fig. To supply with intellectual light; to impart knowledge or wisdom to; to instruct. In mod. use often humorously in trivial sense: To inform, remove (one's) ignorance of something.

b. In religious use: To supply with spiritual light.

• 6. Contextually: To revive, exhilarate. (Cf. lighten, brighten, in similar connexion.) Obs.