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Illuminati - 4 dictionary results
il⋅lu⋅mi⋅na⋅ti
[i-loo-muh-nah-tee, -ney-tahy] 
–plural noun, singular -to [-toh] .
[-toh] . | 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. |
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To Illuminati
| il·lu·mi·na·ti (ĭ-lōō'mə-nä'tē) pl.n.
[Latin illūminātī, from pl. of illūminātus, past participle of illūmināre, to light up; see illuminate.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Illuminati
Il*lu`mi*na"ti\, n. pl. [L. illuminatus. See Illuminate, v. t., and cf. Illuminee.] Literally, those who are enlightened; -- variously applied as follows: 1. (Eccl.) Persons in the early church who had received baptism; in which ceremony a lighted taper was given them, as a symbol of the spiritual illumination they has received by that sacrament. 2. (Eccl. Hist.) Members of a sect which sprung up in Spain about the year 1575. Their principal doctrine was, that, by means of prayer, they had attained to so perfect a state as to have no need of ordinances, sacraments, good works, etc.; -- called also Alumbrados, Perfectibilists, etc. 3. (Mod. Hist.) Members of certain associations in Modern Europe, who combined to promote social reforms, by which they expected to raise men and society to perfection, esp. of one originated in 1776 by Adam Weishaupt, professor of canon law at Ingolstadt, which spread rapidly for a time, but ceased after a few years. 4. Also applied to: (a) An obscure sect of French Familists; (b) The Hesychasts, Mystics, and Quietists; (c) The Rosicrucians. 5. Any persons who profess special spiritual or intellectual enlightenment.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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illuminati
1599, pl. of L. illuminatus "enlightened" (in figurative sense), pp. of illuminare (see illumination). Originally applied to a 16c. Spanish sect (the Alumbrados), then to other sects; since 1797 used as a translation of Ger. Illuminaten, name of a secret society founded 1776 in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, and holding deistic and republican principles; hence used generally of free-thinkers and sarcastically of those professing intellectual enlightenment (1816).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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