SINCE 1828

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

illuminism

play

noun il·lu·mi·nism \i-ˈlü-mə-ˌni-zəm\

Definition of illuminism

1 : belief in or claim to a personal enlightenment not accessible to humankind in general
2 capitalized : beliefs or claims viewed as forming doctrine or principles of Illuminati

illuminist

play \i-ˈlü-mə-nist\ noun

First Known Use of illuminism

1798

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up illuminism? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show

WORD OF THE DAY

haphazard

play

marked by lack of plan or order

Words at Play

alt-596f95fe451e7

'Drought' & 'Drouth' Take Us Back In Time

A variant spelling with a long history

alt-59721dd897313

The 'Best' Way to Sign Off On An E-mail

Give them your best

Words and Phrases That Come from the Dinner Table

Fill your plate with these surprising food words

ghost-being-disinvited-from-party

'Disinvite' or 'Uninvite'?

A disinvited guest is an uninvited problem

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066

Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless

Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals

Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

The Emoji Quiz

Think you’re an emoji 👓 expert? Let’s see 🤔

Take the quiz

A Game of Thrones Word Quiz

In the Game of Thrones quiz, you learn some new vocabulary. (It’s quite safe, really. You will not die.)

Take the quiz

Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Take the quiz

SCRABBLE® Sprint

SCRABBLE® Sprint

SCRABBLE® fans, sharpen your skills!

Play the game