To cause someone to stop being deceived or fooled; to free from illusion or false belief.
From dis- (away, remove) + illude (to mock or deceive, from Latin illudere meaning 'to play tricks on'). The word emerged as a counterpart to 'illude,' meaning to reverse the process of deception.
This is a genuinely rare word that deserves more use—while we have 'disillusion,' 'disillude' captures the active verb form with a slightly more elegant, archaic charm that suggests gently awakening someone from a pleasant dream rather than harshly shattering it.
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