light
/laɪt/
noun
Origin
Proto-Germanic
*leuhtą — light, brightness
Overview
Meaning Now
- The natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible.
- A source of illumination, such as a lamp or a beacon.
Literal older meaning
illumination or radiance
Language path
Proto-Indo-European → Proto-Germanic → Old English → English
Earliest form
lēoht
Earliest period
Old English period
Journey
The word traces back to the PIE root *leuk-, which is also the ancestor of Latin 'lux' and 'lucere'. Its evolution in Germanic languages frequently involved the loss of the velar fricative represented by the spelling '-ght'.
Evolution
- Proto-Indo-European
*leuk-
“light, brightness”
- Proto-Germanic
*leuhtą
“light, brightness”
- Old English
lēoht
“light, radiance”
Used both as a noun and an adjective.
- Middle English
light
“light, luminescence”
Connections
Word parts
light
root
illumination
Related across languages
German
Licht
light
Dutch
licht
light
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Related to light
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.