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illuminati

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illuminati

 

  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Illuminati  \Il*lu`mi*na"ti\,  n.  pl  [L.  illuminatus  See 
  {Illuminate},  v.  t.,  and  cf  {Illuminee}.] 
  Literally,  those  who  are  enlightened;  --  variously  applied  as 
  follows: 
 
  1.  (Eccl.)  Persons  in  the  early  church  who  had  received 
  baptism;  in  which  ceremony  a  lighted  taper  was  given  them 
  as  a  symbol  of  the  spiritual  illumination  they  has 
  received  by  that  sacrament. 
 
  2.  (Eccl.  Hist.)  Members  of  a  sect  which  sprung  up  in  Spain 
  about  the  year  1575.  Their  principal  doctrine  was  that 
  by  means  of  prayer,  they  had  attained  to  so  perfect  a 
  state  as  to  have  no  need  of  ordinances,  sacraments,  good 
  works  etc.;  --  called  also  {Alumbrados}, 
  {Perfectibilists},  etc 
 
  3.  (Mod.  Hist.)  Members  of  certain  associations  in  Modern 
  Europe,  who  combined  to  promote  social  reforms,  by  which 
  they  expected  to  raise  men  and  society  to  perfection,  esp. 
  of  one  originated  in  1776  by  Adam  Weishaupt  professor  of 
  canon  law  at  Ingolstadt  which  spread  rapidly  for  a  time, 
  but  ceased  after  a  few  years. 
 
  4.  Also  applied  to: 
  a  An  obscure  sect  of  French  Familists; 
  b  The  Hesychasts,  Mystics,  and  Quietists; 
  c  The  Rosicrucians. 
 
  5.  Any  persons  who  profess  special  spiritual  or  intellectual 
  enlightenment. 
 
  From  THE  DEVIL'S  DICTIONARY  ((C)1911  Released  April  15  1993)  [devils]: 
 
  ILLUMINATI,  n.  A  sect  of  Spanish  heretics  of  the  latter  part  of  the 
  sixteenth  century;  so  called  because  they  were  light  weights  -- 
  _cunctationes  illuminati_.




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