(v. t.) 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.
(v. t.) 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.
(v. t.) 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.
(v. t.) An obscure sect of French Familists;
(v. t.) The Hesychasts, Mystics, and Quietists;
(v. t.) The Rosicrucians.
(v. t.) Any persons who profess special spiritual or intellectual enlightenment.
Example Sentences:
(1) It’s going to affect everybody.” The six songs from Rebel Heart released thus far do not shy away from controversy: one, Illuminati, mocks the various conspiracy theories on the internet that implicate a variety of entertainers – including Jay-Z and Lady Gaga – in membership of a shadowy ruling elite.
(2) I think there are some people who don’t mind being referred to as that, but I know who the real Illuminati are, and where that word came from.
(3) Although of course the awards are actually decided by shadowy illuminati lizard people so this all means nothing.
(4) The rabbit hole goes even deeper with a whole host of outlandish theories about the death of Tupac, which mostly revolve around him being murdered by the Illuminati with Kanye West and Jay-Z (of course) masterminding the whole shady operation.
(5) At least one believer maintains that the fatidic date of 1 May links the Illuminati to the deaths of Adolf Hitler and Bin Laden, even though Hitler killed himself on 30 April 1945 and Bin Laden was killed in the early hours of 2 May 2011, Pakistan time.
(6) Jones has also linked Bin Laden to the Illuminati, albeit through the more tortuous route of the Mossad, CIA and MI6, among other agents.
(7) He's called Lee, and he's a smart bloke, keen to impress on me that he's a Guardian reader, and old enough to remember a time when the conceptual artist who has assembled him and 16 of his co-workers here today wasn't a conceptual artist: the brief but spectacular era when Bill Drummond was one half of the biggest-selling singles band in the world, the KLF, who made No 1 in 18 countries with a single on which Tammy Wynette sang about the Illuminati and ice cream vans; and the period before that when Drummond was a record company man, band manager and the subject of much music press debate about whether he was a genius or just a headcase.
(8) If it’s all an establishment conspiracy, it cannot be long before the Illuminati get a namecheck.
(9) He doesn’t publicly criticise Griff for giving paranoid lectures about the Illuminati, just like he didn’t knock Flav for becoming a clownish reality TV star.
(10) At that point most people switched off, but then even mainstream news sources started to ask; what is the secret Illuminati message?
(11) And Hova is far from the only rapper accused of having Illuminati ties.
(12) So the purpose for writing that song was really in a way, ‘So, if you think I’m the Illuminati, then thank you very much, a compliment, because I would like very much to be part of that group, the real Illuminati, and this is what it’s not’”.
(13) This is prevented by either bright field or dark field illuminatiated photographs, where the topography of the silver grains is neglected despite the high resolution obtainable by autoradiography, but may be done by taking advantage of a modification of dark field illumination thus generating an additional bright field effect.
(14) Meanwhile, Kanye West, another Tidal backer, has reassured people that the service is not part of the shadowy world-governing organisation known as the Illuminati.
(15) But the new trailer shows the two-time Oscar-winner emerging from the shadows for the first time after 007 tracks him down to an eery Vatican council of Illuminati-like figures.
(16) There’s a lot of talk in pop music right now about people saying, ‘Oh, this person’s a member of the Illuminati,’ or they’re Illuminati, or you’re Illuminati, and people’s idea that there’s a group of entertainers or very wealthy people, they’re referred to as the Illuminati, and they work behind the scenes and they control things and they’re very powerful, and there’s possibly a reference to something dark, or black magic, or something like that.
(17) Most media outlets took the card at face value and instinctively laughed heartily at it , before mocking the Kardashians and moving on, but others looked a bit deeper and started to see the HIDDEN ILLUMINATI MESSAGES.
(18) @1Anson1 : @jahimes @cspanwj Are you a illuminati or Chabad, Zionist probably?” July 23, 2014 Best behind-the-scenes: Paul Ryan (R-WI) Eat your heart out, Woody Allen .
(19) Bin Laden also owned Bloodlines of the Illuminati, by Fritz Springmeier, an Oregon man who has written extensively about the eponymous semi-historical sect, mind control, Jehovah’s witnesses and Freemasons.
(20) An internet search for Canadian cry-baby rap star Drake , for example, will throw up a treasure trove of Illuminati hip-hop conspiracy material.
Reform
Definition:
(v. t.) To put into a new and improved form or condition; to restore to a former good state, or bring from bad to good; to change from worse to better; to amend; to correct; as, to reform a profligate man; to reform corrupt manners or morals.
(v. i.) To return to a good state; to amend or correct one's own character or habits; as, a man of settled habits of vice will seldom reform.
(n.) Amendment of what is defective, vicious, corrupt, or depraved; reformation; as, reform of elections; reform of government.
Example Sentences:
(1) Now, as the Senate takes up a weakened House bill along with the House's strengthened backdoor-proof amendment, it's time to put focus back on sweeping reform.
(2) "The proposed 'reform' is designed to legitimise this blatantly unfair, police state practice, while leaving the rest of the criminal procedure law as misleading decoration," said Professor Jerome Cohen, an expert on China at New York University's School of Law.
(3) What reforms there were could also be reversed, she warned.
(4) Photograph: Guardian The research also compiled data covered by a wider definition of tax haven, including onshore jurisdictions such as the US state of Delaware – accused by the Cayman islands of playing "faster and looser" even than offshore jurisdictions – and the Republic of Ireland, which has come under sustained pressure from other EU states to reform its own low-tax, light-tough, regulatory environment.
(5) A key way of regaining public trust will be reforming the system of remuneration as agreed by the G20.
(6) It has announced a four-stage programme of reforms that will tackle most of these stubborn and longstanding problems, including Cinderella issues such as how energy companies treat their small business customers.
(7) This week's unconfirmed claims that Kim's uncle Jang Song Thaek had been ousted from power have refocused attention on the country's domestic affairs; some analysts say Jang was associated with reform .
(8) The cyclical nature of pyromania has parallels in cycles of reform in standards of civil commitment (Livermore, Malmquist & Meehl, 1958; Dershowitz, 1974), in the use of physical therapies and medications (Tourney, 1967; Mora, 1974), in treatment of the chronically mentally ill (Deutsch, 1949; Morrissey & Goldman, 1984), and in institutional practices (Treffert, 1967; Morrissey, Goldman & Klerman (1980).
(9) Speaking to pro-market thinktank Reform, Milburn called for “more competition” and said the shadow health team were making a “fundamental political misjudgment” by attempting to roll back policies he had overseen.
(10) To confront this evil – and defeat it, standing together for our values, for our security, for our prosperity.” Merkel gave a strong endorsement of Cameron’s reform strategy, saying that Britain’s demands were “not just understandable, but worthy of support”.
(11) According to the Howard League for Penal Reform, which is backing the legal challenge, every year 75,0000 17-year-olds are held in custody.
(12) The heretofore "permanently and totally disabled versus able-bodied" principle in welfare reforms is being abbandoned.
(13) It is the second fate that is overtaking the government's higher education reforms.
(14) But even before the reforms, half of the women coming to refuges were being turned away, so beds were already scarce.
(15) The arrest of the Washington Post’s Tehran correspondent Jason Rezaian and his journalist wife, Yeganeh Salehi, as well as a photographer and her partner, is a brutal reminder of the distance between President Hassan Rouhani’s reforming promises and his willingness to act.
(16) While there has been almost no political reform during their terms of office, there have been several ambitious steps forward in terms of environmental policy: anti-desertification campaigns; tree planting; an environmental transparency law; adoption of carbon targets; eco-services compensation; eco accounting; caps on water; lower economic growth targets; the 12th Five-Year Plan; debate and increased monitoring of PM2.5 [fine particulate matter] and huge investments in eco-cities, "clean car" manufacturing, public transport, energy-saving devices and renewable technology.
(17) The authors are also upfront about what has not gone so well: "We were too slow to mobilise … we did not identify clear leadership or adequate resources for the actions … it is vital to accelerate the programme of civil service reform."
(18) Gerhard Schröder , Merkel’s immediate predecessor, had pushed through parliament a radical reform agenda to get the country’s spluttering economy back on track.
(19) This study suggests that laparoscopy has a role in adhesiolysis of mild and moderate adhesions and SLL provides further opportunity to relyse reformed adhesions in some cases.
(20) The Treasury said: "Britain has been at the forefront of global reforms to make banking more responsible, including big reductions in upfront cash bonuses and linking rewards to long-term success.