enlightenment

Language: en

🇺🇸 /ˌɛˈnlaɪtənmənt/

📖 Definitions

  1. noun
    The state of having gained knowledge, understanding, or spiritual insight; the condition of being enlightened.; A European intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason, individualism, and skepticism of traditional authority (often capitalized as 'the Enlightenment').; The act of enlightening or the state of being enlightened; the imparting of knowledge or understanding.; In Buddhism, the attainment of nirvana or bodhi; the ultimate spiritual awakening and liberation from the cycle of rebirth.

🔗 Details

Word forms

uncountable

Collocations

the Enlightenmentspiritual enlightenmentachieve enlightenmentage of enlightenmentreach enlightenment

Derivatives

enlightenenlightenedenlighteningunenlightened

Synonyms

illuminationinsightunderstandingawarenesswisdomknowledge

Antonyms

ignorancedarkness

Commonly confused

illumination
EN: 'Illumination' can refer to physical light or intellectual clarity; 'enlightenment' specifically implies a profound, often spiritual or philosophical, state of understanding.
enlightened
EN: 'Enlightened' is the adjective or past participle form describing someone who has gained insight; 'enlightenment' is the noun referring to the state or concept itself.

Spelling tips

EN: Remember the silent 'e' in 'enlighten' before the '-ment' suffix: 'enlightenment', not 'enlightnment'.

💬 Examples

  1. The monk spent years in meditation seeking enlightenment.

  2. Voltaire and Rousseau were prominent thinkers of the Enlightenment.

  3. The professor's lecture brought enlightenment to the confused students.

  4. Siddhartha Gautama achieved enlightenment under the Bodhi tree.