The meanings of “edify” came to English from two eras of Latin. In Late Latin, “aedificare” meant “to instruct or improve spiritually”; this is related to the most common modern usage of “edify.” But the archaic usage was “to build” or “to establish,” which is more closely related to the earlier Latin meaning of “aedificare,” which was “to erect a house.” The adjective form, “edifying,” is commonly used to describe a form of media that provides intellectual as well as entertainment value.