"Enlightenment" meaning in English

See Enlightenment in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proper name

Forms: the Enlightenment [canonical], Enlightment [alternative, rare]
Etymology: Proprialization from enlightenment. Head templates: {{en-proper noun|head=the Enlightenment}} the Enlightenment
  1. (history) A 17th- and 18th-century European intellectual and cultural movement emphasizing rationalism. The period during which it flourished is called the Age of Enlightenment or Age of Reason. Synonyms: European Enlightenment, Euro-American Enlightenment, Western Enlightenment, ;, Aufklärung Translations (17th- and 18th-century cultural movement): التَّنْوِير (at-tanwīr) [masculine] (Arabic), Լուսավորություն (Lusavorutʻyun) (Armenian), Լուսավորականություն (Lusavorakanutʻyun) (Armenian), Асве́тніцтва (Asvjétnictva) [neuter] (Belarusian), Il·lustració [feminine] (Catalan), 啟蒙時代 /启蒙时代 (Qǐméng Shídài) (Chinese Mandarin), osvícenství [neuter] (Czech), de verlichting [feminine] (Dutch), valgustusajastu (Estonian), valistusaika (Finnish), les Lumières [feminine, plural] (French), განმანათლებლობა (ganmanatlebloba) (Georgian), die Aufklärung [feminine] (German), Διαφωτισμός (Diafotismós) [masculine] (Greek), a felvilágosodás (Hungarian), Upplýsingin [feminine] (Icelandic), an Eagnaíocht [feminine] (Irish), illuminismo [masculine] (Italian), 啓蒙 (keimō) (alt: けいもう) (Japanese), 계몽주의 (gyemongjuui) (alt: 啓蒙主義) (Korean), روشنگری (rowšangari) (Persian), Oświecenie [neuter] (Polish), Iluminismo [masculine] (Portuguese), Esclarecimento [masculine] (Portuguese), Ilustração [feminine] (Portuguese), Просвеще́ние (Prosveščénije) [neuter] (Russian), Ilustración [feminine] (Spanish), Iluminismo [masculine] (Spanish), upplysningen [common-gender] (Swedish), ยุคเรืองปัญญา (Thai), ยุคสว่าง (Thai), Aydınlanma (Turkish), Просві́тництво (Prosvítnyctvo) [neuter] (Ukrainian)
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  2. Synonym of Age of Enlightenment. Synonyms: Age of Enlightenment [synonym, synonym-of] Derived forms: Age of Enlightenment, Dark Enlightenment, post-Enlightenment Related terms: empiricism, humanism, science
    Sense id: en-Enlightenment-en-name-hIrFcCyq Categories (other): Philosophy Disambiguation of Philosophy: 54 46

Alternative forms

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          "text": "What is enlightenment? In a 1784 essay with that question as its title, Immanuel Kant answered that it consists of “humankind’s emergence from its self-incurred immaturity,” its “lazy and cowardly” submission to the “dogmas and formulas” of religious or political authority.¹ Enlightenment’s motto, he proclaimed, is “Dare to understand!” and its foundational demand is freedom of thought and speech. […] What is the Enlightenment?⁴ There is no official answer, because the era named by Kant’s essay was never demarcated by opening and closing ceremonies like the Olympics, nor are its tenets stipulated in an oath or creed. The Enlightenment is conventionally placed in the last two-thirds of the 18th century, though it flowed out of the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Reason in the 17th century and spilled into the heyday of classical liberalism of the first half of the 19th.",
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    "Terms with French translations",
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    "Terms with Greek translations",
    "Terms with Hungarian translations",
    "Terms with Icelandic translations",
    "Terms with Irish translations",
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    "Terms with Mandarin translations",
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          "word": "European Enlightenment"
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          "word": "Euro-American Enlightenment"
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        {
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          "ref": "2018, Steven Pinker, “Chapter 1: Dare to Understand!”, in Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, Penguin, →ISBN:",
          "text": "What is enlightenment? In a 1784 essay with that question as its title, Immanuel Kant answered that it consists of “humankind’s emergence from its self-incurred immaturity,” its “lazy and cowardly” submission to the “dogmas and formulas” of religious or political authority.¹ Enlightenment’s motto, he proclaimed, is “Dare to understand!” and its foundational demand is freedom of thought and speech. […] What is the Enlightenment?⁴ There is no official answer, because the era named by Kant’s essay was never demarcated by opening and closing ceremonies like the Olympics, nor are its tenets stipulated in an oath or creed. The Enlightenment is conventionally placed in the last two-thirds of the 18th century, though it flowed out of the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Reason in the 17th century and spilled into the heyday of classical liberalism of the first half of the 19th.",
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "lang_code": "ar",
      "roman": "at-tanwīr",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "tags": [
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      "word": "التَّنْوِير"
    },
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      "code": "hy",
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      "lang_code": "hy",
      "roman": "Lusavorutʻyun",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "word": "Լուսավորություն"
    },
    {
      "code": "hy",
      "lang": "Armenian",
      "lang_code": "hy",
      "roman": "Lusavorakanutʻyun",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "word": "Լուսավորականություն"
    },
    {
      "code": "be",
      "lang": "Belarusian",
      "lang_code": "be",
      "roman": "Asvjétnictva",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "Асве́тніцтва"
    },
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "lang_code": "ca",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Il·lustració"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "lang_code": "cmn",
      "roman": "Qǐméng Shídài",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "word": "啟蒙時代 /启蒙时代"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "lang_code": "cs",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "osvícenství"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "lang_code": "nl",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "de verlichting"
    },
    {
      "code": "et",
      "lang": "Estonian",
      "lang_code": "et",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "word": "valgustusajastu"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "word": "valistusaika"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "les Lumières"
    },
    {
      "code": "ka",
      "lang": "Georgian",
      "lang_code": "ka",
      "roman": "ganmanatlebloba",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "word": "განმანათლებლობა"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "die Aufklärung"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "lang_code": "el",
      "roman": "Diafotismós",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Διαφωτισμός"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "lang_code": "hu",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "word": "a felvilágosodás"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "lang_code": "is",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Upplýsingin"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "lang_code": "ga",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "an Eagnaíocht"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "lang_code": "it",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "illuminismo"
    },
    {
      "alt": "けいもう",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "lang_code": "ja",
      "roman": "keimō",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "word": "啓蒙"
    },
    {
      "alt": "啓蒙主義",
      "code": "ko",
      "lang": "Korean",
      "lang_code": "ko",
      "roman": "gyemongjuui",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "word": "계몽주의"
    },
    {
      "code": "fa",
      "lang": "Persian",
      "lang_code": "fa",
      "roman": "rowšangari",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "word": "روشنگری"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "Oświecenie"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "lang_code": "pt",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Iluminismo"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "lang_code": "pt",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Esclarecimento"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "lang_code": "pt",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Ilustração"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "roman": "Prosveščénije",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "Просвеще́ние"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Ilustración"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Iluminismo"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "lang_code": "sv",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "upplysningen"
    },
    {
      "code": "th",
      "lang": "Thai",
      "lang_code": "th",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "word": "ยุคเรืองปัญญา"
    },
    {
      "code": "th",
      "lang": "Thai",
      "lang_code": "th",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "word": "ยุคสว่าง"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "lang_code": "tr",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "word": "Aydınlanma"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "lang_code": "uk",
      "roman": "Prosvítnyctvo",
      "sense": "17th- and 18th-century cultural movement",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "Просві́тництво"
    }
  ],
  "word": "Enlightenment"
}

Download raw JSONL data for Enlightenment meaning in English (9.8kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-03-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-03-03 using wiktextract (05c257f and 9d9a410). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.