< /ɪˌlu məˈnɑ toʊ, -ˈneɪ-/.
- persons possessing, or claiming to possess, superior enlightenment.
- (initial capital letter) a name given to different religious societies or sects because of their claim to superior enlightenment.
pl n singular -to (-təʊ)
- a group of persons claiming exceptional enlightenment on some subject, esp religion
pl n singular -to (-təʊ)
- any of several groups of illuminati, esp in 18th-century France
- a group of religious enthusiasts of 16th-century Spain who were persecuted by the Inquisition
- a masonic sect founded in Bavaria in 1778 claiming that the illuminating grace of Christ resided in it alone
- a rare name for the Rosicrucians
1590s, plural of Latin illuminatus “enlightened” (in figurative sense), past participle of illuminare (see illumination). Originally applied to a 16c. Spanish sect (the Alumbrados), then to other sects; since 1797 used as a translation of German 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). Related: Illuminatism; illuminatist.