Illuminati

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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: 
     [1913 Webster]
  


     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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. Also applied to:
        (a) An obscure sect of French Familists;
        (b) The Hesychasts, Mystics, and Quietists;
        (c) The Rosicrucians.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     5. Any persons who profess special spiritual or intellectual
        enlightenment.
        [1913 Webster]

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_.