Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Enlightenment
(14,627 words)

1. Concept and definition

Enlightenment in English is first attested from 1865 as a translation of the German Aufklärung, which was first recorded in 1691. With their European cognates lumières (French), illuminismo (Italian), and ilustración (Spanish), they denote the most influential European educational a…

Cite this page
Walther, Gerrit, Steinle, Friedrich, Beutel, Albrecht, Tschopp, Silvia Serena, Kanz, Roland and Schmidt, Matthias, “Enlightenment”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_017183>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20170626



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