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Act of enlightening, or the state of being enlightened or instructed.

The state of being cultivated; result of cultivation; physical improvement; enlightenment and discipline acquired by mental and moral training; civilization; refinement in manners and taste. What the Greeks expressed by their humanitas, we less happily try to express by the more artificial word culture. J. C. Shairp. T…

Any persons who profess special spiritual or intellectual enlightenment.

That which is gained and preserved by knowing; instruction; acquaintance; enlightenment; learning; scholarship; erudition. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. 1 Cor. viii. 1. Ignorance is the curse of God; -Knowledge, the wing wherewith we fly to heaven. Shak.

That which illumines or makes clear to the mind; mental or spiritual illumination; enlightenment; knowledge; information. He shall never know That I had any light of this from thee. Shak.

The act of making bright, or the state of being made bright; enlightenment; brightening, as of the mental powers. [R.] Ball lightning, a rare form of lightning sometimes seen as a globe of fire moving from the clouds to the earth. -- Chain lightning, lightning in angular, zigzag, or forked flashes. -- Heat lightning,…

Hatred of argument or discussion; hatred of enlightenment. G. H. Lewes.

One who obscures; one who prevents enlightenment or hinders the progress of knowledge and wisdom. Coleridge.