English
enlighten
Enlighten comes from Old English inlīhtan ‘to illuminate, make bright, cause to shine’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *inliuhtijaną.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*inliuhtijaną‘to enlighten, illumine’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150inlīhtan‘to illuminate, make bright, cause to shine’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500enlightenen
- Englishearliest quotation 1844enlighten
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*inliuhtijaną‘to enlighten, illumine’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150inlīhtan‘to illuminate, make bright, cause to shine’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500enlightenen
- Englishearliest quotation 1844enlighten
Earliest quotation: 1844, Charles Dickens: “There was a warning sulkiness in the manner of…”
Formed from light + -en
Proto-Indo-European *lewk- ‘to shine’
…
Proto-Germanic *leuhtą
Proto-West Germanic *leuht ‘light’
Old English lēoht
Middle English light ‘light, illumination’
English light
The story
Formerly also inlighten, from Middle English enlightenen, inlightnen, a hybrid formed from inlighten (‘to enlighten, illuminate’), from Old English inlīhtan, onlīhtan, enlīhtan (‘to enlighten, illuminate, give light to, give sight to’) and lightnen (‘to enlighten, illuminate’) (equivalent to light + -en).
Every English word from Proto-Germanic *inliuhtijaną
Today it means
verb To supply with light.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *inliuhtijaną / enlighten