to instruct or benefit, especially morally or spiritually; uplift: religious paintings that edify the viewer.
Origin: 1300–50; Middle English edifien < Anglo-French, Old French edifier < Latin aedificāre to build, equivalent to aedi- (stem of aedes) house, temple + -ficāre-fy
Related forms
ed·i·fi·er, noun
ed·i·fy·ing·ly, adverb
non·ed·i·fied, adjective
re·ed·i·fy, verb (used with object), -fied, -fy·ing.
an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
mid-14c., a figurative use, from O.Fr. edifier, from L. ædificare "to build, construct," in L.L. "improve spiritually, instruct" (see edifice). Related: Edified; edifying.