enlightener

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noun

One who, or that which, enlightens.

Scrabble 15
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Meanings

nounenlightener (plural enlighteners)

plural enlighteners

  1. One who, or that which, enlightens.

    The heart entirely engrossed by one, is the last to suspect it can be the object of preference to another. Vanity, the great enlightener on such subjects, is here lost in a more powerful feeling. She never thought of Mr. Spenser in any other character than as a pleasant acquaintance.

    1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, pages 271–272
    1. historyA thinker of the Age of Enlightenment.

      The French enlightener Jean-François Marmontel […]

      1982, Critical Essays, page 121

Origin

From enlighten + -er.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

enlightener. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enlightener

MLA

“enlightener.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enlightener. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “enlightener,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enlightener.

Source: enlightener on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.