light

As you can see, this spacious dining-room gets a lot of light in the mornings.

Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps,[…], and the light of the reflector fell full upon her.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

Here the stripped panelling was warmly gold and the pictures, mostly of the English school, were mellow and gentle in the afternoon light.

1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

[Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.

2013 July 20, “Out of the gloom”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

When the studio light is on, I am recording my evening show.

2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

Electromagnetic radiation
electromagnetic radiation#Noun

(physics, uncountable) Electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range visible to the human eye (about 400–750 nanometers); visible light.

black light

(by extension) Infrared or ultraviolet radiation.

We turned off all the lights and went to sleep.

The ceiling lights were off, but I knew the narrow light spilling from the lamp on my bureau would be enough for her to see the pale red marks on my chest, which had been fading for so long they had gone back to being shiny again.

2016 August 7, Jameson Rich, “The Shirt Stays On”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-11-25:

A lightbulb or similar light-emitting device, regardless of whether it is lit.

To get to our house, turn right at the third light.

A traffic light, or (by extension) an intersection controlled by traffic lights.

Put that light out!

And the light ſhineth in darkneſſe, and the darkneſſe compꝛehended it not.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 1:5:

He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, […], the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

Can you throw any light on this problem?

He shall never know / That I had any light of this from thee.

c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

Greatly interested in these differences—some of them so great that they led me to seek exchanges of light with Englishmen—I looked for some work that would describe and account for them with a show of completeness, and perhaps depict the process of their origin.

[1921 [1919], H. L. Mencken, The American Language, 2nd edition, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN, →OCLC:

(figurative) Spiritual or mental illumination; enlightenment, useful information.

Now these notions are twofold, actions or habits[…], which are durable lights and notions, which we may use when we will.

1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:

"Well, there's her statement of her case, and according to her lights, it's a just one. She's got a slum-bred mind."

1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 164:

(in the plural, now rare) Facts; pieces of information; ideas, concepts.

Facts; pieces of information; ideas, concepts.

Picasso was one of the leading lights of the cubist movement.

Joan of Arc, a light of ancient France

1842, Alfred Tennyson, “A Dream of Fair Women”, in Poems. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:

A notable person within a specific field or discipline.

(painting) The manner in which the light strikes a picture; that part of a picture which represents those objects upon which the light is supposed to fall; the more illuminated part of a landscape or other scene; opposed to shade.

I'm really seeing you in a different light today.

Magoon's governorship in Cuba was viewed in a negative light by many Cuban historians for years thereafter.

Frequent consideration of a thing […] shows it in its several lights and various ways of appearance.

1692–1717, Robert South, “Why Christ’s Doctrine was Rejected by the Jews”, in Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:

Thy ſteddy Temper, Portius,
Can look on Guilt, Rebellion, Fraud, and Cæſar,
In the calm Lights of mild Philoſophy; […]

1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 1:

Now if there was one thing that the animals were completely certain of, it was that they did not want Jones back. When it was put to them in this light, they had no more to say.

1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC:

A point of view, or aspect from which a concept, person or thing is regarded.

"There will, I expect, be many such - possibly whole cities in flames - when we consider how many folk may have dropped with lights in their hands."

1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

A flame or something used to create fire.

Hey, buddy, you got a light?

A flame or something used to create fire.

a Bengal light

A firework made by filling a case with a substance which burns brilliantly with a white or coloured flame.

This facade has eight south-facing lights.

A window in architecture, carriage design, or motor car design: either the opening itself or the window pane of glass that fills it, if any.

The average length of a light on a 15×15 grid is 7 or 8.

(crosswording) The series of squares reserved for the answer to a crossword clue.

(informal) A cross-light in a double acrostic or triple acrostic.

A cross-light in a double acrostic or triple acrostic.

The duke yet would have dark deeds darkly answered; he would never bring them to light.

c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

Open view; a visible state or condition; public observation; publicity.

My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eies, it also is gone from me.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 38:10:

He seemed to find his way without his eyes; / For out o'door he went without their helps, / And, to the last, bended their light on me.

c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

en-noun

light (countable and uncountable, plural lights)

lights (plural)
lite (alternative)
lighte (alternative)
lyght (alternative)
lyghte (alternative)
licht (alternative Scotland)

visible light

electromagnetic wave perceived by the eye

→ Gulf Arabic: ليت (lēt)

→ Farefare: laatɩ

Sranan Tongo: leti

valo

painting: manner in which the light strikes a picture

cách

"see [someone] in a good light"=nhìn đến ai một cách đẹp

sananpituus

squares reserved for the answer to a crossword

päivänvalo

open view; public observation; publicity

إِشَارَة مُرُور

traffic light, or an intersection controlled by one

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *lewk-der.
Proto-Germanic *leuhtaz
Proto-West Germanic *leuht
Old English lēoht
Middle English light
English light
From Middle English light, liht, leoht, from Old English lēoht, from Proto-West Germanic *leuht, from Proto-Germanic *leuhtą, from Proto-Indo-European *lewktom, from the root *lewk- (“light”).
Cognates
*Scots licht (“light”)
*West Frisian ljocht (“light”)
*Dutch licht (“light”)
*Low German Licht (“light”)
*German Licht (“light”)
*Swedish ljus (“light”)
*Icelandic ljós (“light”)
*Latin lūx (“light”)
*Russian луч (luč, “beam of light”)
*Armenian լույս (luys, “light”)
*Ancient Greek λευκός (leukós, “white”)
*Persian رُخش (roxš).


light

We lit the fire to get some heat.

She lit her last match.

if a thousand candles be all lighted from one

1627, G[eorge] H[akewill], An Apologie of the Power and Prouidence of God in the Gouernment of the World. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Iohn Lichfield and William Turner, […], →OCLC:

(transitive) To set fire to; to set burning.

I used my torch to light the way home through the woods in the night.

19th century', Frederic Harrison, The Fortnightly Review
One hundred years ago, to have lit this theatre as brilliantly as it is now lighted would have cost, I suppose, fifty pounds.

The Sun has set, and Vesper, to supply / His absent beams, had lighted up the sky.

1700, [John] Dryden, “The Flower and the Leaf: Or, The Lady in the Arbour. A Vision.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

"Can I light you down to your cab?"

1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 9:

(transitive) To illuminate; to provide light for when it is dark.

This soggy match will not light.

(intransitive) To become ignited; to take fire.

His bishops lead him forth, and light him on.

1824, Walter Savage Landor, Imaginary Conversations: Richard I and the Abbot of Boxley:

To attend or conduct with a light; to show the way to by means of a light.

Light the extra ball by amassing 500 million points in the wizard mode.

(transitive, pinball) To make (a bonus) available to be collected by hitting a target, and thus light up the feature light corresponding to that bonus to indicate its availability.

en-verb

light (third-person singular simple present lights, present participle lighting, simple past and past participle lit or lighted or (obsolete) light)

lights (present singular third-person)
lighting (participle present)
lit (participle past)
lit (past)
lighted (participle past)
lighted (past)
light (obsolete participle past)
light (obsolete past)
lite (alternative)
lighte (alternative)
lyght (alternative)
lyghte (alternative)
licht (alternative Scotland)

better to light a candle than to curse the darkness

better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness

better to light one candle than to curse the darkness

better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness

From Middle English lighten, lihten, from Old English līehtan (“to light, to shine”), from Proto-Germanic *liuhtijaną, from *leuhtą + *-janą. Cognate with German leuchten (“to shine”).


light

The room is light when the Sun shines through the window.

Historic England explained the listing: "The station's unique design employs a high level of sophistication and innovation through its use of conoid shells supported on a cruck-like frame, which not only create a dramatic aesthetic form, but endow the building with a light and spacious interior."

2023 March 22, Philip Haigh, “Five configuration stages to boost Manchester rail capacity”, in RAIL, number 979, page 31:

Having light; bright; clear; not dark or obscure.

She had light skin.

'Twas early June, the new grass was flourishing everywheres, the posies in the yard—peonies and such—in full bloom, the Sun was shining, and the water of the bay was blue, with light green streaks where the shoal showed.

1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

Pale or whitish in color; highly luminous and more or less deficient in chroma.

I like my coffee light.

(of coffee) Served with extra milk or cream.

en-adj

light (comparative lighter, superlative lightest)

lighter (comparative)
lightest (superlative)
lite (alternative)
lighte (alternative)
lyght (alternative)
lyghte (alternative)
licht (alternative Scotland)

(only as idiom 'koffie verkeerd') verkeerd

ljóst n (both ^((please verify)) hvítur and ^((please verify)) ljós are always neuter because the word "coffie" is neuter)

From Middle English light, liht, leoht, from Old English lēoht (“luminous, bright, light, clear, resplendent, renowned, beautiful”), from Proto-Germanic *leuhtaz (“light”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“light”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian ljoacht (“light”), Dutch licht, German licht.


light

a light load ; a lighter backpack after having removed the books ; light weapons

These weights did not exert their natural gravity […] insomuch that I could not guess which was light or heavy whilst I held them in my hand.

1712 September 1 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “THURSDAY, August 21, 1712”, in The Spectator, number 463; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume V, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:

Having little or relatively little actual weight; not cumbrous or unwieldy.

feathers and cork are light ; oil is lighter than water

Having little weight as compared with bulk; of little density or specific gravity.

to issue light coin

Of short or insufficient weight; weighing less than the legal, standard, or proper amount; clipped or diminished.

Lacking that which burdens or makes heavy.

Free from burden or impediment; unencumbered.

a light aircraft ; a light tank

Lightly built; typically designed for speed or small loads.

light infantry; a troop of light horse

(military) Not heavily armed; armed with light weapons.

if a ship is light or partially loaded ; the light draft of a vessel, or its light displacement

(nautical, of a ship) Riding high because of no cargo; by extension, pertaining to a ship which is light.

the light locomotives ; a locomotive may be moved light

On that August Thursday afternoon, there was little freight traffic; a large "K3" Mogul went down with a short, fast goods, and a W.D. 2-8-0 proceeded northward light.

1951 January, R. A. H. Weight, “A Railway Recorder in Essex and Hertfordshire”, in Railway Magazine, page 44:

(rail transport, of a locomotive or consist of locomotives) Without any piece of equipment attached or attached only to a caboose.

a light bread ; sponge cake is a light cake

(cooking) Not heavy or soggy; spongy; well raised.

This light beer still gets you drunk if you have enough of it.

Low in fat, calories, alcohol, salt, etc.

a light drizzle; a light rain was falling; a light snow set in

Slight, not forceful or intense; small in amount or intensity.

This artist clearly had a light, flowing touch.

Gentle; having little force or momentum.

light duties around the house

Light sufferings give us leisure to complain.

1697, Virgil, “Palamon and Arcite”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

I made some light comment, and we moved on.

He had drunk more than was fit for him, and he was singing some light song, when he saw approaching, as he said, the pale horse mentioned in the Revelation, with Death seated as the rider.

1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

Unimportant, trivial, having little value or significance.

Long after lay he musing at her mood, / Much grieu'd to thinke that gentle Dame so light, / For whose defence he was to shed his blood.

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

So do not you; for you are a light girl.

c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:

A light wife doth make a heavy husband.

c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

Unmarried men are best friends, best masters […] but not always best subjects, for they are light to run away.

1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Marriage and Single Life”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:

Not encumbered; unembarrassed; clear of impediments; hence, active; nimble; swift.

a light, vain person; a light mind

There is no greater argument of a light and inconsiderate person than profanely to scoff at religion.

1633, John Tillotson, The Wisdom of being Religious:

(dated) Easily influenced by trifling considerations; unsteady; unsettled; volatile.

Ogden Nash was a writer of light verse.

Seneca can not be too heavy, nor Plautus too light.

c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:

specimens of New England humour laboriously light and lamentably mirthful

Indulging in, or inclined to, levity; lacking dignity or solemnity; frivolous; airy.

Are his wits safe? Is he not light of brain?

c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

Not quite sound or normal; somewhat impaired or deranged; dizzy; giddy.

light sleep; light anesthesia

I wish you a good day, and you'll find a way
 To make your spirits light & gay

1980, “ア・グッド・デイ [A Good Day]”, Yoko Narahashi (lyrics), Yukihide Takekawa (music), performed by Godiego:

forceful

antonym(s) of “having little force or momentum”

calorific

antonym(s) of “low in fat, calories, etc”

crucial

antonym(s) of “having little value or significance”

lleuger

low in fat, calories, alcohol, salt, etc.

лекомислен

easily influenced by trifling considerations

From Old English lēoht, līht, from Proto-West Germanic *lį̄ht, from Proto-Germanic *linhtaz or *līhtaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ- (“light”).
Cognate with Dutch licht, German leicht, Swedish lätt, Norwegian lett, Albanian lehtë, Latin levis, Russian лёгкий (ljóxkij), Lithuanian lengvas, Sanskrit लघु (laghu), Persian لاغر (lāghar).


light

I prefer to travel light.


light

(curling) A stone that is not thrown hard enough.

We crossed to the pub on the corner of Carlisle Street and I ordered two schooners of old for him and one of light for me.

2010, Peter Corris, Torn Apart, Allen and Unwin, page 117:

(Australia, uncountable) A low-alcohol lager.

(military, historical) A member of the light cavalry.


light

(nautical) To unload a ship, or to jettison material to make it lighter

His mailèd habergeon she did undight, / And from his head his heavy burgonet did light.

1590, Edmund Spenser, “(please specify the book)”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

To lighten; to ease of a burden; to take off.

en-verb

light (third-person singular simple present lights, present participle lighting, simple past and past participle lighted)

lights (present singular third-person)
lighting (participle present)
lighted (participle past)
lighted (past)
lite (alternative)
lighte (alternative)
lyght (alternative)
lyghte (alternative)
licht (alternative Scotland)


light

I lit upon a rare book in a second-hand bookseller's.

"Sacredam!" he cried, when his eyes lit upon Buck. "Dat one dam bully dog! Eh? How moch?"

1903 July, Jack London, “Into the Primitive”, in The Call of the Wild, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, page 34:

To stop upon (of eyes or a glance); to notice

She fell out of the window but luckily lit on her feet.

[W]e knew not what Courſe to take, but the Creatures [wolves] reſolv'd us ſoon, for they gather'd about us preſently, in Hopes of Prey, […] I drew my little Troop in among thoſe Trees, and placing our ſelves in a Line, behind one long Tree, I advis'd them all to light, and keeping that Tree before us, for a Breaſt-Work, to ſtand in a Triangle, or three Fronts, encloſing our Horſes in the Center.

1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, pages 356–357:

And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel.

1769, Benjamin Blayney (Ed.), King James Bible (Genesis 24:64)

Some kinds of ducks in lighting strike the water with their tails first, and skitter along the surface for a few feet before settling down.

1885, Theodore Roosevelt, Hunting Trips of a Ranchman:

1957, Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel), The Cat in the Hat
And our fish came down, too. He fell into a pot! He said, "Do I like this? Oh, no! I do not. This is not a good game," Said our fish as he lit.

One cannot help but notice a teasingly elusive air about her, as if she were a butterfly that refused to light and fluttered just out of reach of its would-be captor.

1977 December 31, Lisa Nussbaum, “Jacqui Mac: Bringing Her Dreams Together”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 26, page 10:

(archaic) To alight; to land or come down.

From Middle English lighten, from Old English līhtan (“to relieve”), from Proto-West Germanic *lį̄htijan, from Proto-Germanic *linhtijaną, from *linhtaz (“light”).