Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of relatively little weight; not heavy.
  • adjective Of relatively little weight for its size or bulk.
  • adjective Of less than the correct, standard, or legal weight.
  • adjective Designed for ease and quickness of movement; having a structure that is slim and has little weight for its type or class.
  • adjective Designed to carry relatively little weight.
  • adjective Carrying little equipment or armament.
  • adjective Requiring relatively little equipment and using relatively simple processes to produce consumer goods.
  • adjective Exerting little force or impact; gentle.
  • adjective Indistinct; faint.
  • adjective Low in quantity or intensity.
  • adjective Consuming or using relatively moderate amounts; abstemious.
  • adjective Not harsh or severe.
  • adjective Moving easily and quickly; nimble.
  • adjective Easy to perform or accomplish; requiring little effort.
  • adjective Easy to bear or endure.
  • adjective Having little importance; insignificant.
  • adjective Intended primarily as entertainment and lacking serious or weighty content.
  • adjective Not solemn or serious.
  • adjective Free from worries or troubles; blithe.
  • adjective Mildly dizzy or faint.
  • adjective Easily awakened or disturbed.
  • adjective Easily digested.
  • adjective Containing a relatively small amount of a potentially harmful ingredient, such as alcohol, fat, or sodium.
  • adjective Having a spongy or flaky texture; well-leavened.
  • adjective Having a loose, porous consistency.
  • adjective Of, relating to, or being a syllable ending in a short vowel or a short vowel plus a consonant.
  • adjective Of, relating to, or being a vowel or syllable pronounced with little or no stress.
  • adverb In a light manner; lightly.
  • adverb With little weight and few burdens.
  • intransitive verb To get down, as from a vehicle or horse; dismount.
  • intransitive verb To descend to the ground after flight; land.
  • intransitive verb To come upon one unexpectedly.
  • intransitive verb To come upon by chance or accident. Used with on or upon.
  • idiom (go light on) To use, acquire, or consume in small or moderate amounts.
  • idiom (go light on) To treat leniently.
  • noun Electromagnetic radiation that is visible, perceivable by the normal human eye as colors between red and violet, having frequencies between 400 terahertz and 790 terahertz and wavelengths between 750 nanometers and 380 nanometers.
  • noun Electromagnetic radiation of any frequency or wavelength.
  • noun The sensation of perceiving light; brightness.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English lēoht, līht; see legwh- in Indo-European roots.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English lēoht, līht; see leuk- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English light, liht, leoht, from Old English lēoht ("light, daylight; power of vision; luminary; world"), from Proto-Germanic *leuhtan (“light”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewktom, from the root *lewk- (“light”). Cognate with Scots licht ("light"), West Frisian ljocht ("light"), Dutch licht ("light"), Low German licht ("light"), German Licht ("light"). Related also to Swedish ljus ("light"), Icelandic ljós ("light"), Latin lūx ("light").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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 Dutch licht, German licht.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English lighten, lihten, from Old English līhtan, lȳhtan, lēohtan ("to lighten, illuminate, give light, shine; grow light, dawn; light, kindle").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English līhtan

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old English lēoht, from Proto-Germanic *linhtaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ- (“light”). Cognate with Dutch licht, German leicht, Swedish lätt, Norwegian lett, Albanian lehtë, Latin levis, , Lithuanian lengvas, Sanskrit लघु (laghú).

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Examples

  • This effect of great light, is an almost invariable accompaniment of supra-consciousness, although there are instances of undoubted cosmic consciousness in which the realization has been a more gradual growth, rather than a sudden influx, in which the phenomenon of _light_ is not greatly marked.

    Cosmic Consciousness

  • They report: 'Instead of the gas giving increased light as the rate of consumption is increased, it will be seen that _in every case_ there is a point beyond which the _light decreases_ relatively to the proportion of gas consumed.

    Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. XVI., December, 1880. Various

  • We also hold these lights in our hands to honor Christ, and to acknowledge him as the _true light_, [5] whom they represent under this character, and who is called by holy Simeon in this mystery, _a light for the enlightening of the

    The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints January, February, March Alban Butler

  • "Variable as the shade, by the light quivering aspen made"; but variable as the _light_, manifold in fair and serene division, that it may take the color of all that it falls upon, and exalt it.

    Harvard Classics Volume 28 Essays English and American Various

  • It may be that the mental side is weak; that it is lazy and does not want to think; that the only food it craves is the sensational, and light, _very light_ reading and not much of that.

    The Girl and Her Religion Margaret Slattery

  • A correspondent of Mr. Knight's suggests {114} for the word _delight_ in this passage, also, a new derivation; using _de_ as a negation, and _light (lux), delighted_, removed from the regions of light.

    Notes and Queries, Number 38, July 20, 1850 Various

  • A change in the direction of a small portion of the sun's light passing by the solid body of the moon, it being deflected outward by repulsion or reflection from its surface, and other portions being deflected inward after passing the body by mutual repulsion of its own elements toward a _light vacuum_ or space devoid of the element of vibration.

    Scientific American Supplement, No. 441, June 14, 1884. Various

  • _Delight_ is naturally formed by the participle _de_ and _light_, to make light, in the same way as "debase," to make base, "defile," to make foul.

    Notes and Queries, Number 38, July 20, 1850 Various

  • This is sometimes used as a source of light, under the name of _Drummond_ or _lime light_.

    An Elementary Study of Chemistry William McPherson

  • Christ Himself is called "the light of the world," and that He once made the very significant remark: "If thine eye be single, _thy whole body shall be full of light_."

    The Problems of Psychical Research Experiments and Theories in the Realm of the Supernormal Hereward Carrington 1919

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  • At 114 definitions, it goes to the top of the list

    May 3, 2009

  • generation

    July 23, 2009