| / English Dictionary |
ENLIGHTENMENT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Education that results in understanding and the spread of knowledge
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("enlightenment" is a kind of...):
education (knowledge acquired by learning and instruction)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "enlightenment"):
edification; sophistication (uplifting enlightenment)
satori ((Zen Buddhism) a state of sudden spiritual enlightenment)
Antonym:
unenlightenment (a lack of understanding)
Derivation:
enlighten (make understand)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A movement in Europe from about 1650 until 1800 that advocated the use of reason and individualism instead of tradition and established doctrine
Example:
the Enlightenment brought about many humanitarian reforms
Synonyms:
Age of Reason; Enlightenment
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("Enlightenment" is a kind of...):
reform movement (a movement intended to bring about social and humanitarian reforms)
Instance hypernyms:
age; historic period (an era of history having some distinctive feature)
Sense 3
Meaning:
(Hinduism and Buddhism) the beatitude that transcends the cycle of reincarnation; characterized by the extinction of desire and suffering and individual consciousness
Synonyms:
enlightenment; nirvana
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("enlightenment" is a kind of...):
beatification; beatitude; blessedness (a state of supreme happiness)
Domain category:
Hindooism; Hinduism (a body of religious and philosophical beliefs and cultural practices native to India and based on a caste system; it is characterized by a belief in reincarnation, by a belief in a supreme being of many forms and natures, by the view that opposing theories are aspects of one eternal truth, and by a desire for liberation from earthly evils)
Buddhism (the teaching of Buddha that life is permeated with suffering caused by desire, that suffering ceases when desire ceases, and that enlightenment obtained through right conduct and wisdom and meditation releases one from desire and suffering and rebirth)
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