light

light
\ \ [OE] English has two distinct words light.
\ \ The one meaning ‘illumination’ comes ultimately from Indo-European *leuk-, *louk-, *luk-, which also produced Greek leukóswhite’ (source of English leukaemia [20]) and Latin lūxlight’ (from which English gets lucifer [OE], literally ‘light-bearer’), lūmenlight’ (whence English luminous [15]), lūcēreshine’ (source of English lucid [16]), lūstrārelight up’ (whence English illustrate and lustre [16]), and lūnamoon’ (source of English lunar). Its main prehistoric West Germanic derivative was *leukhtam, from which come German and Dutch licht and English light. The word lynx may be related. Lightnot heavy’ comes from a prehistoric Germanic *lingkhtaz, a close relative of which produced English lung (the word lung thus etymologically denotes ‘something full of air and not heavy’, and indeed lungs were, and animal lungs still are called lights in English).
\ \ Cf.ILLUSTRATE, LEUKAEMIA, LUCID, LUMINOUS, LUNAR, LUSTRE, LYNX; LUNG

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу
Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Light — (l[imac]t), n. [OE. light, liht, AS. le[ o]ht; akin to OS. lioht, D. & G. licht, OHG. lioht, Goth. liuha[thorn], Icel. lj[=o]s, L. lux light, lucere to shine, Gr. leyko s white, Skr. ruc to shine. [root]122. Cf. {Lucid}, {Lunar}, {Luminous},… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • light — light1 [līt] n. [ME liht < OE lēoht, akin to Ger licht < IE base * leuk , to shine, bright > Gr leukos, white, L lux & lumen, light, lucere, to shine, luna, moon, Welsh llug, gleam] 1. a) the form of electromagnetic radiation that acts… …   English World dictionary

  • Light — Light, a. [Compar. {Lighter} (l[imac]t [ e]r); superl. {Lightest}.] [OE. light, liht, AS. l[=i]ht, le[ o]ht; akin to D. ligt, G. leicht, OHG. l[=i]hti, Icel. l[=e]ttr, Dan. let, Sw. l[ a]tt, Goth. leihts, and perh. to L. levis (cf. {Levity}), Gr …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • light — Ⅰ. light [1] ► NOUN 1) the natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible; electromagnetic radiation from about 390 to 740 nm in wavelength. 2) a source of illumination. 3) a device producing a flame or spark. 4) (lights) traffic… …   English terms dictionary

  • Light Me Up — Студийный альбом The Pretty Reckless …   Википедия

  • Light Me Up — Álbum de The Pretty Reckless Publicación 27 de agosto de 2010 (ver Lanzamiento en el mundo) Grabación agosto de 2009 abril de 2010 …   Wikipedia Español

  • light — [adj1] illuminated ablaze, aglow, bright, brilliant, burnished, clear, cloudless, flashing, fluorescent, glossy, glowing, lambent, lucent, luminous, lustrous, phosphorescent, polished, radiant, refulgent, resplendent, rich, scintillant, shining,… …   New thesaurus

  • Light — Light, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Lighted} (l[imac]t [e^]d) or {Lit} (l[i^]t); p. pr. & vb. n. {Lighting}.] [AS. l[=y]htan, l[=i]htan, to shine. [root]122. See {Light}, n.] 1. To set fire to; to cause to burn; to set burning; to ignite; to kindle; as,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Light Up — (Japanese:美術館 bijutsukan ) is a binary determination logic puzzle published by Nikoli. As of 2006, two books consisting entirely of Light Up puzzles have been published by Nikoli.Rules Light Up is played on a rectangular grid of white and black… …   Wikipedia

  • Light — Light, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Lighted} (l[imac]t [e^]d) or {Lit} (l[i^]t); p. pr. & vb. n. {Lighting}.] [AS. l[=i]htan to alight orig., to relieve (a horse) of the rider s burden, to make less heavy, fr. l[=i]ht light. See {Light} not heavy, and cf …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Light — (l[imac]t), a. [AS. le[ o]ht. See {Light}, n.] [Compar. {Lighter} (l[imac]t [ e]r); superl. {Lightest}.] 1. Having light; not dark or obscure; bright; clear; as, the apartment is light. [1913 Webster] 2. White or whitish; not intense or very… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”