English edit

Etymology edit

enlighten +‎ -er

Noun edit

enlightener (plural enlighteners)

  1. One who, or that which, enlightens.
    • 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Romance and Reality. [], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, [], →OCLC, pages 271–272:
      The heart entirely engrossed by one, is the last to suspect it can be the object of preference to another. Vanity, the great enlightener on such subjects, is here lost in a more powerful feeling. She never thought of Mr. Spenser in any other character than as a pleasant acquaintance.