- enlightenment
- 1660s, from enlighten + -ment. Only ever used in figurative sense, of spiritual enlightenment, etc. Attested from 1865 as a translation of Ger. Aufklärung, a name for the spirit and system of Continental philosophers in the 18c.
"The philosophy of the Enlightenment insisted on man's essential autonomy: man is responsible to himself, to his own rational interests, to his self-development, and, by an inescapable extension, to the welfare of his fellow man. For the philosophes, man was not a sinner, at least not by nature; human nature -- and this argument was subversive, in fact revolutionary, in their day -- is by origin good, or at least neutral. Despite the undeniable power of man's antisocial passions, therefore, the individual may hope for improvement through his own efforts -- through education, participation in politics, activity in behalf of reform, but not through prayer." [Peter Gay]
- philosophe
- "Enlightenment rationalist and skeptic," esp. in ref. to any of the Fr. Encyclopædists, often disparaging (when used by believers), 1774, from Fr. philosophe, lit. "philosopher" (see philosopher). Usually italicized in Eng., but nativized by Peter Gay ("The Enlightenment," 1966) and others. Also philosophist (1798).
- self-conscious
- 1688, "aware of one's action," a word of the Eng. Enlightenment (Locke was using it by 1690), from self + conscious (q.v.). Morbid sense of "preoccupied with one's own personality" is attested from 1834 (in J.S. Mill).
- priesthood
- O.E. preosthad; see priest + -hood. Priestcraft originally was "the business of being a priest" (late 15c.); after rise of Protestantism and the Enlightenment, it acquired a pejorative sense of "arts of ambitious priests for temporal power and social control" (1680s).
- 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).
- Aufklarung
- 1801, from Ger. Aufklärung (18c.), lit. "Enlightenment," from aufklären "to enlighten" (17c.), from auf "up" + klären "to clear," from L. clarus (see clear).
- bo tree
- 1680s, from Sinhalese bo, from Pali bodhi, short for bodhi-taru "bo tree," lit. "tree of wisdom or enlightenment" (related to Skt. buddhah "awakened;" see bid) + taru "tree."
- illumination
- mid-14c., "spiritual enlightenment," from O.Fr. illumination, from L. illuminationem (nom. illuminatio), from illuminare "to throw into light," from in- "in" (with assimilation of -n- to the following consonant) + lumen (gen. luminis) "light." Meaning "the action of lighting" is from 1560s. Illuminate (M.E. enlumyen) originally meant "decorate written material with gold, silver, bright colors;" sense of "shining light on" first recorded 1560s. (Illumine in this sense is from late 14c.)
- reason (n.)
- early 13c., "statement in an argument," also "intellectual faculty that adopts actions to ends," from Anglo-Fr. resoun, O.Fr. raison, from L. rationem (nom. ratio) "reckoning, understanding, motive, cause," from ratus, pp. of reri "to reckon, think," from PIE base *rei- "to reason, count" (cf. O.E. rædan "to advise; see read). Meaning "sanity" is recorded from, late 14c. The verb (c.1300) is from O.Fr. raisoner, from L.L. rationare "to discourse." Originally "to question (someone)," sense of "employ reasoning (with someone)" is from 1847, and that of "to think in a logical manner" is from 1590s. Phrase it stands to reason is from 1630s. Age of Reason "the Enlightenment" is first recorded 1794, as the title of Tom Paine's book.
- liberal (adj.)
- late 14c., from O.Fr. liberal "befitting free men, noble, generous," from L. liberalis "noble, generous," lit. "pertaining to a free man," from liber "free," from PIE base *leudheros (cf. Gk. eleutheros "free"), probably originally "belonging to the people" (though the precise semantic development is obscure), from *leudho- "people" (cf. O.C.S. ljudu, Lith. liaudis, O.E. leod, Ger. Leute "nation, people"). Earliest reference in English is to the liberal arts. Sense of "free in bestowing" is from late 14c. With a meaning "free from restraint in speech or action" (late 15c.) liberal was used 16c.-17c. as a term of reproach. It revived in a positive sense in the Enlightenment, with a meaning "free from prejudice, tolerant," which emerged 1776-88. Purely in reference to political opinion, "tending in favor of freedom and democracy" it dates from c.1801, from Fr. libéral, originally applied in English by its opponents (often in French form and with suggestions of foreign lawlessness) to the party favorable to individual political freedoms. But also (especially in U.S. politics) tending to mean "favorable to government action to effect social change," which seems at times to draw more from the religious sense of "free from prejudice in favor of traditional opinions and established institutions" (and thus open to new ideas and plans of reform), which dates from 1823.
"Conservative, n. A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others." [Ambrose Bierce, "Devil's Dictionary," 1911]
The noun meaning "member of the Liberal party of Great Britain" is from 1820.