late 14c., "to remove the dimness or blindness" (usually figurative, from one's eyes or heart); see en-(1) + lighten. From 1660s as "supply with intellectual light." Literal senses are later and less common in English: "put light in" is from 1580s; "shed light upon" is from 1610s. Related: Enlightened; enlightening. Old English had inlihtan "to illuminate, enlighten."