The act of instructing or improving someone's mind, morals, or knowledge, especially in a way that enlightens or uplifts them.
From Latin edificatio, derived from edificare (to build, instruct), combining aedes (building) and facere (to make). The metaphorical sense of 'building up' someone's knowledge or character became common in Medieval Latin and entered English in the 14th century.
The word literally means 'building' but we use it for building up minds instead of structures—the Romans were brilliant at using construction metaphors for learning, which is why 'education' and 'edification' both come from the building concept.
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