# light
## English

Wikiquote

### Alternative forms

* lite (informal or archaic); lighte, lyght, lyghte (obsolete)
* licht (Scotland)

### Pronunciation

* enPR: līt, IPA: /laɪt/
** (Received Pronunciation) IPA: [laɪt]
** (Standard Southern British) IPA: [lɑjt]
** (General American) IPA: [ɫɐɪt]
** (Canada, regional US) IPA: [ləjt]
** (General Australian) IPA: [lɑɪt]
* Audio (UK):(file)
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -aɪt
* Homophone: lite
* Hyphenation: light

### Etymology 1

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”).
* 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).

#### Noun

light (countable and uncountable, plural lights)
* (physics, uncountable) Electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range visible to the human eye (about 400–750 nanometers); visible light.
    As you can see, this spacious dining-room gets a lot of light in the mornings.
** 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: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.
** 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:Here the stripped panelling was warmly gold and the pictures, mostly of the English school, were mellow and gentle in the afternoon light.
** 2013 July 20, “Out of the gloom”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:[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.
** 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
    When the studio light is on, I am recording my evening show.
       Audio (US):(file)
** (by extension) Infrared or ultraviolet radiation.
    black light
* (countable) A source of illumination.
    Put that light out!
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 1:5:And the light ſhineth in darkneſſe, and the darkneſſe compꝛehended it not.
** 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC: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.
** A lightbulb or similar light-emitting device, regardless of whether it is lit.
    We turned off all the lights and went to sleep.
*** 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: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.
** A traffic light, or (by extension) an intersection controlled by traffic lights.
    To get to our house, turn right at the third light.
* (figurative) Spiritual or mental illumination; enlightenment, useful information.
    Can you throw any light on this problem?
** 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]:He shall never know / That I had any light of this from thee.
** [1921 [1919], H. L. Mencken, The American Language, 2nd edition, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN, →OCLC: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.]
* (in the plural, now rare) Facts; pieces of information; ideas, concepts.
** 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:Now these notions are twofold, actions or habits […], which are durable lights and notions, which we may use when we will.
** 1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 164:"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."
* A notable person within a specific field or discipline.
    Picasso was one of the leading lights of the cubist movement.
** 1842, Alfred Tennyson, “A Dream of Fair Women”, in Poems. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:Joan of Arc, a light of ancient France
* (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.
* A point of view, or aspect from which a concept, person or thing is regarded.
    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.
** 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:Frequent consideration of a thing […] shows it in its several lights and various ways of appearance.
** 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 1:Thy ſteddy Temper, Portius, Can look on Guilt, Rebellion, Fraud, and Cæſar, In the calm Lights of mild Philoſophy; […]
** 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: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.
* A flame or something used to create fire.
** 1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:"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."
** (slang) A cigarette lighter.
    Hey, buddy, you got a light?
* A firework made by filling a case with a substance which burns brilliantly with a white or coloured flame.
    a Bengal light
* 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.
    Hyponyms: backlight, sidelight, transom
    This facade has eight south-facing lights.
* (crosswording) The series of squares reserved for the answer to a crossword clue.
    The average length of a light on a 15×15 grid is 7 or 8.
* (informal) A cross-light in a double acrostic or triple acrostic.
* Open view; a visible state or condition; public observation; publicity.
** 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]:The duke yet would have dark deeds darkly answered; he would never bring them to light.
* The power of perception by vision.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 38:10:My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eies, it also is gone from me.
* The brightness of the eye or eyes.
** 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]: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.

##### Synonyms

* (electromagnetic wave perceived by the eye): visible light
* See also Thesaurus:light source

##### Hypernyms

* (physics): electromagnetic radiation

##### Hyponyms

* accidental light
* afterlight
* amber light
* anchor light
* ancient lights
* available light
* bad light
* Bengal light
* big light
* black light
* blue light
* boob light
* booklight
* brake light
* Bude light
* calcium light
* cherry light
* Christmas light
* circularly polarized light
* circular polarized light
* coherent light
* Coston light
* courtesy light
* dark light
* dome light
* drop light
* Drummond light
* dry light
* dummy light
* earthlight
* electric light
* Finsen light
* flashlight
* floodlight
* fog light
* footlight
* gaslight
* green light
* grow light
* hard light
* hazard light
* headlight
* Hessdalen light
* idiot light
* immeasurable light
* isophase light
* key light
* klieg light
* lamplight
* limelight
* magnesium light
* Marfa light
* Min Min light
* mood light
* moonlight
* natural light
* navigation light
* neon light
* nightlight
* occulting light
* owl light
* oxycalcium light
* oxyhydrogen light
* parking light
* park light
* pendant light
* pilot light
* plane polarized light
* pocket light
* polarized light
* polar lights
* practical light
* quarry light
* quick light
* range light
* rear light
* red light
* riding light
* ring light
* roof light
* rough service light
* running light
* safelight
* sea-light
* searchlight
* skylight
* slow light
* spotlight
* stack light
* starlight
* stoplight
* streetlight
* strobe light
* sunlight
* swag light
* synchrotron light
* taillight
* tally light
* top light
* track light
* trouble light
* twilight
* ultraviolet light
* Very light
* white light
* Wood's light
* X-light
* yardlight
* Yehudi lights
* yellow light
* zircon light
* zodiacal light

##### Derived terms

* aberration of light
* arc light
* bad light
* batement light
* better light
* bili light
* blue light bandit
* blue light disco
* blue-light special
* bright lights
* bright lights and cold steel
* bring to light
* by one's lights
* can light
* cast light on
* catch the light
* city lights
* cold steel and bright lights
* colour light signal
* come to light
* density of light
* electric light bug
* fairy lights
* false light
* fanlight
* faster than light
* faster-than-light
* fill light
* first light
* floating light
* Friday night lights
* give a light
* go out like a light
* guiding light
* half-light
* hard light
* hide one's light under a bushel
* hold a light
* indicator light
* in light of
* in someone's light
* in the cold light of day
* in the light of
* jump the lights
* keep the lights on
* knock someone's lights out
* leaded light
* leading light
* let there be light
* light at the end of the tunnel
* light ball
* light barrel
* light barrier
* light-bearing
* light bill
* lightboat
* lightbox, light box
* light bucket
* lightbulb, light bulb
* light buoy
* light century
* light characteristic
* light clock
* light cone
* light curve
* light day
* light decade
* light dependent resistor
* light due
* light echo
* light elf
* light-emitting diode
* light engineering
* light eon
* light equation
* lightfast
* light field
* light fixture
* lightful
* light gele
* light globe
* light gun
* light hour
* lighthouse
* light intensity
* light jockey
* lightkeeper
* lightless
* lightman
* light meter
* light microscope
* light-mile
* light mill
* light millennium
* light minute
* light money
* light month
* light-nanosecond
* light-off temperature
* light of nature
* light of one's eye
* light-o'-love
* light on the hill
* light organ
* light painting
* light panel
* light pen
* light pillar
* light pipe
* light-polluted
* light pollution
* light porter
* light probe
* light profile
* lightroom
* lightsaber
* light sail
* lights, camera, action
* light-scattering photometry
* light second
* light sector
* light-sensitive
* lightship
* light-shot
* light show
* light-skirts
* light source
* lights-out
* lights out
* light spectrum
* lightspeed, light speed
* light-struck
* light switch
* light table
* light therapy
* light-tight
* light time
* light trespass
* lightvessel
* light wave
* light week
* lightwood
* light year
* livers and lights
* luthern-light
* make a light
* marker light
* marsh light
* more heat than light
* northern lights
* offer the light
* one-way light time
* out like a light
* peak of eternal light
* pipe-light
* punch someone's lights out
* put on the red light
* put someone's light out
* put someone's lights out
* quarter light
* Range of Light
* ray of light
* reading light
* running lights
* see the light
* see the light of day
* shed light on
* shed light upon
* shine a light on
* shine light on
* Shine the Light Law
* skylight
* southern lights
* speed of light
* Spirit of Light
* stand in one's own light
* St. Elmo's light
* stop the lights
* strike a light
* sub-light
* sweetness and light
* the lights are on but nobody's home
* the lights are on but no one's home
* throw light on
* trick of the light
* yellow light of death

##### Descendants

* → Gulf Arabic: ليت (lēt)
* → Farefare: laatɩ
* Sranan Tongo: leti

##### Translations
#### References

* light on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Etymology 2

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”).

#### Verb

light (third-person singular simple present lights, present participle lighting, simple past and past participle lit or lighted or (obsolete) light)
* (transitive) To start (a fire).
    Synonym: set
    Antonyms: extinguish, put out, quench
    We lit the fire to get some heat.
* (transitive) To set fire to; to set burning.
    Synonyms: ignite, kindle, conflagrate; see also Thesaurus:kindle
    Antonyms: extinguish, put out, quench
    She lit her last match.
** 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:if a thousand candles be all lighted from one
* (transitive) To illuminate; to provide light for when it is dark.
    Synonyms: illuminate, light up; see also Thesaurus:illuminate
    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.
** 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:The Sun has set, and Vesper, to supply / His absent beams, had lighted up the sky.
** 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 9:"Can I light you down to your cab?"
* (intransitive) To become ignited; to take fire.
    Synonyms: catch fire, ignite, conflagrate; see also Thesaurus:combust
    This soggy match will not light.
* To attend or conduct with a light; to show the way to by means of a light.
** 1824, Walter Savage Landor, Imaginary Conversations: Richard I and the Abbot of Boxley:His bishops lead him forth, and light him on.
* (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.
    Light the extra ball by amassing 500 million points in the wizard mode.

##### Derived terms

* 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
* floodlight
* highlight
* kick the tires and light the fires
* lightable
* light a fire under
* light off
* light on
* light one's hair on fire
* light someone's fire
* light the touch-paper
* light-up
* light up
* light upon
* light up the tote
* unlight

##### Related terms

* belight
* inlight

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Etymology 3

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.

#### Adjective

light (comparative lighter, superlative lightest)
* Having light; bright; clear; not dark or obscure.
    The room is light when the Sun shines through the window.
** 2023 March 22, Philip Haigh, “Five configuration stages to boost Manchester rail capacity”, in RAIL, number 979, page 31: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."
* Pale or whitish in color; highly luminous and more or less deficient in chroma.
    She had light skin.
** 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:'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.
* (of coffee) Served with extra milk or cream.
    I like my coffee light.

##### Synonyms

* (having light): bright, lightful
* (pale in colour): pale
* (coffee: served with extra milk or cream): white, with milk, with cream

##### Derived terms

* Light Alfs
* light bread
* light-colored
* light-haired
* lightish
* light matter
* light orange
* light paper
* light plough
* light side of the Force
* light-skinned
* lightsome
* lightsomely
* lightsomeness
* light-squared bishop
* lightwood

##### Related terms

* lightness
* lighty

##### Translations
### Etymology 4

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).

#### Adjective

light (comparative lighter, superlative lightest)
* Having little or relatively little actual weight; not cumbrous or unwieldy.
    a light load ; a lighter backpack after having removed the books ; light weapons
** 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: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.The spelling has been modernized.
* Having little weight as compared with bulk; of little density or specific gravity.
    feathers and cork are light ; oil is lighter than water
* Of short or insufficient weight; weighing less than the legal, standard, or proper amount; clipped or diminished.
    to issue light coin
* Lacking that which burdens or makes heavy.
** Free from burden or impediment; unencumbered.
** Lightly built; typically designed for speed or small loads.
    a light aircraft ; a light tank
** (military) Not heavily armed; armed with light weapons.
    light infantry; a troop of light horse
** (nautical, of a ship) Riding high because of no cargo; by extension, pertaining to a ship which is light.
    if a ship is light or partially loaded ; the light draft of a vessel, or its light displacement
** (rail transport, of a locomotive or consist of locomotives) Without any piece of equipment attached or attached only to a caboose.
    the light locomotives ; a locomotive may be moved light
*** 1951 January, R. A. H. Weight, “A Railway Recorder in Essex and Hertfordshire”, in Railway Magazine, page 44: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.
** With low viscosity.
* (cooking) Not heavy or soggy; spongy; well raised.
    a light bread ; sponge cake is a light cake
* Low in fat, calories, alcohol, salt, etc.
    This light beer still gets you drunk if you have enough of it.
* Slight, not forceful or intense; small in amount or intensity.
    a light drizzle; a light rain was falling; a light snow set in
* Gentle; having little force or momentum.
    This artist clearly had a light, flowing touch.
* Easy to endure or perform.
    light duties around the house
** 1697, Virgil, “Palamon and Arcite”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:Light sufferings give us leisure to complain.
* Unimportant, trivial, having little value or significance.
    I made some light comment, and we moved on.
** 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide: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.
* (obsolete) Unchaste, wanton.
** 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC: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.
** 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]:So do not you; for you are a light girl.
** 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]:A light wife doth make a heavy husband.
* Not encumbered; unembarrassed; clear of impediments; hence, active; nimble; swift.
** 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Marriage and Single Life”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:Unmarried men are best friends, best masters […] but not always best subjects, for they are light to run away.
* (dated) Easily influenced by trifling considerations; unsteady; unsettled; volatile.
    a light, vain person; a light mind
** 1633, John Tillotson, The Wisdom of being Religious:There is no greater argument of a light and inconsiderate person than profanely to scoff at religion.
* Indulging in, or inclined to, levity; lacking dignity or solemnity; frivolous; airy.
    Ogden Nash was a writer of light verse.
** 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]:Seneca can not be too heavy, nor Plautus too light.
** 1851, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Old News:specimens of New England humour laboriously light and lamentably mirthful
* Not quite sound or normal; somewhat impaired or deranged; dizzy; giddy.
** 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]:Are his wits safe? Is he not light of brain?
* Easily interrupted by stimulation.
    light sleep; light anesthesia
* Cheerful.
** 1980, “ア・グッド・デイ [A Good Day]”, Yoko Narahashi (lyrics), Yukihide Takekawa (music), performed by Godiego:I wish you a good day, and you'll find a way To make your spirits light & gay

##### Synonyms

* (of little weight):
* (lightly-built): lightweight
* (having little force or momentum): delicate, gentle, soft
* (low in fat, calories, etc): lite, lo-cal (low in calories), low-alcohol (low in alcohol)
* (having little value or significance): inconsequential, trivial, unimportant

##### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “of little weight”): heavy, weighty, burdensome
* (antonym(s) of “lightly-built”): cumbersome, heavyweight, massive
* (antonym(s) of “having little force or momentum”): forceful, heavy, strong
* (antonym(s) of “low in fat, calories, etc”): calorific (high in calories), fatty (high in fat), strong (high in alcohol)
* (antonym(s) of “having little value or significance”): crucial, important, weighty

##### Derived terms

* feather-light
* lady of light virtue
* large light cruiser
* light academia
* light air
* light as a feather
* light blue
* light bob
* light breeze
* light carrier
* light cavalry
* light cream
* light cruiser
* light-duty
* light engine
* light entertainment
* light-finger
* light-fingered
* light-fingeredness
* lightfoot
* light-footed
* lightful
* lightfulness
* light green cell hormon
* light-handed
* light-headed
* light-headedly
* lightheadedness
* lighthearted
* light-heeled
* light horse
* light-horseman
* light industry
* light infantry
* light in the loafers
* light in the sneakers
* light-legged
* light line
* lightliness
* lightly
* light machine gun
* light meat
* light-minded
* light-mindedly
* light-mindedness
* lightness
* light novel
* light oil
* light on one's feet
* light opera
* light rail
* light railway
* light roller
* lightskirt
* lightskirts
* lightsome
* lightsomely
* lightsomeness
* light-spirited
* light stepper
* light vehicle
* light verb
* light water
* light waterline
* lightweight
* light-winged
* light-witted
* make light work of
* many hands make light work
* Metropolis light transport
* over light
* trip the light fantastic
* very light

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### Adverb

light (comparative lighter, superlative lightest)
* Carrying little.
    I prefer to travel light.

##### Derived terms

* travel light

##### Related terms

* lightliness
* lightly

##### Translations
#### Noun

light (plural lights)
* (curling) A stone that is not thrown hard enough.
* See lights (“lungs”).
* (Australia, uncountable) A low-alcohol lager.
** 2010, Peter Corris, Torn Apart, Allen and Unwin, page 117: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.
* (military, historical) A member of the light cavalry.

#### Verb

light (third-person singular simple present lights, present participle lighting, simple past and past participle lighted)
* (nautical) To unload a ship, or to jettison material to make it lighter
* To lighten; to ease of a burden; to take off.
** 1590, Edmund Spenser, “(please specify the book)”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:His mailèd habergeon she did undight, / And from his head his heavy burgonet did light.
* (by extension) To leave; to depart.

##### Derived terms

* light along
* light down
* lighter
* light up

##### Translations
### Etymology 5

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

#### Verb

light (third-person singular simple present lights, present participle lighting, simple past and past participle lit or lighted or (obsolete) light)
* To find by chance.
    I lit upon a rare book in a second-hand bookseller's.
* To stop upon (of eyes or a glance); to notice
** 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:"Sacredam!" he cried, when his eyes lit upon Buck. "Dat one dam bully dog! Eh? How moch?"
* (archaic) To alight; to land or come down.
    She fell out of the window but luckily lit on her feet.
** 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, pages 356–357:[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.
** 1769, Benjamin Blayney (Ed.), King James Bible (Genesis 24:64)
    And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel.
** 1885, Theodore Roosevelt, Hunting Trips of a Ranchman: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.
** 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.
** 1977 December 31, Lisa Nussbaum, “Jacqui Mac: Bringing Her Dreams Together”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 26, page 10: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.

##### Synonyms

* (find by chance): chance upon, come upon, find, happen upon, hit upon
* (alight): alight, land

##### Derived terms

* light into
* light out

##### Translations
## French
### Etymology

Borrowed from English light.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /lajt/
* Audio:(file)

### Adjective

light (invariable)
* light, slight
* (of food) diet, low-fat, fat-free, light

## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* lighte, lyght, lyghte, liȝt, liȝte, lyȝt, lyȝte, lijȝt, liȝht, lyȝht, lyȝhte, liȝth, lyȝth, ligt, lygtte, ligth, liht, lihte, lyht, lyhte, lith, lithe, lyth, lythe, litht, lite, lyte, lit, lytte, lichte, lict, licth, liste, leoht, leocht, loht

### Etymology

From Old English lēoht (“light, daylight; power of vision; luminary; world”), from Proto-West Germanic *leuht, from Proto-Germanic *leuhtą (“light”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewktom, from the root *lewk- (“light”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /lixt/
* Rhymes: -ixt

### Noun

light (plural lightes)
* The radiation which allows for vision by brightening objects and colours.
* Illumination in general, or any source thereof.
* The metaphorical clarity resulting from philosophical or religious ideals such as truth, wisdom, righteousness, etc.
* Mental or spiritual acuity; the presence of life in a living being.
* (chemistry) The property of lustre; how shiny a substance is.
* (religion) Heavenly radiance; glory
* (architecture) an opening in a wall allowing for the transmission of light; a window.
* The sense of sight.
* The state of being easily seen.

#### Descendants

* English: light
* Geordie English: leet
* Scots: licht
* Yola: lhygt

#### References

* “light, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-05.

## Portuguese
### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English light. Doublet of leve, léu, and ligeiro.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈlaj.t͡ʃi/ [ˈlaɪ̯.t͡ʃi], (careful pronunciation) /ˈlajt/ [ˈlaɪ̯t]
* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈlaj.t͡ʃi/ [ˈlaɪ̯.t͡ʃi], (careful pronunciation) /ˈlajt/ [ˈlaɪ̯t]
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /ˈlaj.te/ [ˈlaɪ̯.te], (careful pronunciation) /ˈlajt/ [ˈlaɪ̯t]

### Adjective

light (invariable)
* (of food) light (low in fat, calories, alcohol, salt or other undesirable substances)

## Spanish
### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English light.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈlait/ [ˈlai̯t̪]
* Rhymes: -ait

### Adjective

light (invariable)
* light (low in fat, calories, salt, alcohol, etc.)
* (of cigarettes) light (low in tar, nicotine and other noxious chemicals)
* (by extension) Lacking substance or seriousness; lite

#### Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

### Further reading

* “light”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10