From Latin 'lūmen' (light), from PIE *lewk- — to light up physically, clarify intellectually, or decorate manuscripts.
To light up; to make visible or bright with light. To clarify or make understandable. To decorate a manuscript with gold, silver, and brilliant colours.
From Latin 'illūmināre' (to light up, to make bright, to illuminate), from 'in-' (upon, into) + 'lūmināre' (to light, to give light to), from 'lūmen' (light, lamp), from PIE *lewk- (light, bright, to shine). The PIE root *lewk- is one of the most fecund in the Indo-European family: it produced Latin 'lux' (light — in 'translucent,' 'lucid'), Greek 'leukos' (white, bright — in 'leukemia,' 'leucocyte'), Old English 'lēoht' (light), and a vast array of words across the language family. The manuscript decoration sense developed from the practice of using gold leaf that literally made
The Illuminati — the Bavarian secret society founded by Adam Weishaupt in 1776 — chose their name from Latin 'illuminati' (the enlightened ones), the past participle of 'illuminare.' They saw themselves as bearers of intellectual light against the darkness of superstition and religious authority. The name has outlived the society by centuries, proving that a good etymology can generate conspiracy theories
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