US /ɪnˈlaɪtən/ UK /ɪnˈlaɪtən/
verb

Meanings

  1. 1
    verb

    to give greater knowledge or understanding to someone

    Perhaps you could enlighten me as to why the meeting was canceled.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 verb · to give greater knowledge... informeducateilluminateinstructedifyappriseteach
Word family
Derived forms enlightenedenlightenmentenlightener

Etymology

From Middle English enlightenen, from en- (intensive) + lighten, from Old English lihtan ('to shine, give light'), from leoht ('light').

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Topics

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