Pa. t. and pa. pple. lighted, lit. Forms: 1 líhtan, lýhtan, 3 lihte(n, liȝte, leiten, Orm. lihhtenn, 4 liȝt, liht, lith, 4–5 lighte, 4–6 lyght, Sc. licht, lycht, 5 lyghteyn, (9 dial. leet), 4– light. 3rd sing. pres. ind. 1 líht, lýht, 3 liht, licht, 4 Kent. let. Pa. t. α. 1 líhte, lýhte, 3 lihte. β. 2 lihtede, 4 liȝtede, 4–6 Sc. lychtit, -yt, 4– lighted; 8 litt, 6– lit. Pa. pple. α. 3 liht, 3–4 iliȝt, 4 i-lyȝht, liȝt, 4–5 lyght, (5 lyghth), 4–8 light. β. 3 Orm. lihhtedd, 4–5 liȝtid, 6 lyghted, -yd, Sc. lychtet, lichtit, 4– lighted; 6– lit. γ. 9 pseudo-arch. litten. [OE. líhtan = OS. liuhtian (MDu. lichten, luchten, Du. lichten), OHG. liuhten (mod.G. leuchten), Goth. liuhtjan:—OTeut. *liuhtjan, f. *leuhto- LIGHT sb. or a.2]
† 1. intr. To give or shed light; to shine; to be alight or burning. Also, to lighten. Obs.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., John i. 5. Þæt leoht lyht on ðystrum.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gram., xxii. (Z.), 128. Fulminat, hit liht.
c. 1250. Kent. Serm., in O. E. Misc., 27. Si gode beleaue licht and is bricht ine þo herte of þo gode Manne ase gold.
c. 1290. Beket, 1382. Þe cloudene hire [sc. þe sonne] ouer-cast þat heo ne mai no leng liȝte.
c. 1300. Cursor M., 24942. Þe lem can light, þe storm it fel.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Boeth., III. metr. xi. 79 (Camb. MS.). Thilke thing that the blake cloude of errour whilom hadde y-couered, shal lyhten more clerly thanne phebus hym self ne shyneth. Ibid. (c. 1386), Pars. T., ¶ 963. Right so shal youre light lighten bifore men.
14[?]. Ave Regina, in Tundale’s Vis. (1843), 146. Heyle tho lampe that euer is lyghtand To hye and lowe to ryche and pore.
1646. Crashaw, Steps, Ps. xxiii. 66. A beame that falls, Fresh from the pure glance of Thine eye, Lighting to Eternity.
a. 1774. Goldsm., trans. Scarron’s Com. Romance (1775), II. 185. And that instant the taper which was lighting in the room was burnt out.
† b. Of day, etc.: To grow light. Sometimes conjugated with to be. Obs.
a. 1000. Cædmon’s Dan., 158 (Gr.). Þa dæʓ lyhte.
c. 1205. Lay., 28314. Ase þe dæi gon lihte heo bigunnen to fihten.
1382. Wyclif, 2 Sam. xvii. 22. To the tyme that the dai were liȝtid [Vulg. donec dilucesceret].
1596. Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., III. ii. 138. And that shall be the Day, when ere it lights [etc.].
2. trans. To set burning (a candle, lamp, torch); to kindle (a fire); to apply a light to (a combustible); to ignite. (Pa. pple. lighted, lit, † light = alight.) Also with up. † To light off: to ignite as an explosive.
1154. O. E. Chron., an. 1140 (Laud MS.). Me lihtede candles to æten bi.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 1411. And tis ferliche fur schal lihten in ow þe halwende lei of þe hali gast.
c. 1300. Havelok, 585. Blou the fir, and lith a kandel.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xvii. (Martha), 176. Þe sergis al scho lychtyt, bathe gret & smal.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 4231–2. Many liȝtis of a liȝt is liȝid othire-quile, And ȝit þe liȝt at þam liȝtis is liȝid as before.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 11792. No fyre wold be light; þat assait was full sothely of sere men full ofte.
a. 1450. Knt. de la Tour (1868), 23. He fonde … the candelle light.
1506. in Mem. Hen. VII. (Rolls), 282. Having great torches lit in his and divers other ships.
a. 1547. Bale, Image Both Ch., xiii. (1550), f 1. The candle that he lyght vs to se ouer the house.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. v. 19. Shyning lampes in Joves high house were light.
1604. E. Grimstone, Hist. Siege Ostend, 219. With … their matches light, Bullet in the mouth.
1645. Waller, Of the Queen, 14. Thither my Muse, like bold Prometheus, flyes To light her torch at Gloriana’s eyes.
1649. Roberts, Clavis Bibl., Introd. ii. 29. What brightnesse is this I see? Have you light up any Candles?
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 46, ¶ 4. I twisted it into a kind of Match, and litt my Pipe with it.
1717. Entertainer, No. 5 (1718), 28. Like Gunpowder, when they are lighted off, they [the mob] scatter Ruin and Destruction around them.
1763. in Brand, Hist. Newcastle (1789), I. 20, note. The lamps put up in the streets … were lighted up for the first time.
1852. Mrs. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s C., xxxvi. How would ye like to be tied to a tree, and have a slow fire lit up around ye?
1854. W. Collins, Hide & Seek, II. ix. (1861), 235. ‘He’s the most generous fellow in the world,’ continued Zack, lighting a cigar.
1856. Emerson, Eng. Traits, Universities, Wks. (Bohn), II. 9. No candle or fire is ever lighted in the Bodleian.
1890. Rider Haggard & A. Lang, World’s Desire, 128. A lamp for our feet the Lord hath litten.
b. transf. and fig.
1679. Dryden & Lee, Œdipus, II. 28. If an immodest thought, or low desire, Inflam’d my breast, since first our Loves were lighted.
1752. Young, Brothers, IV. i. Each morn my life I lighted at her eye.
1866. B. Taylor, Anastasia, Poems 267. Thine eyes were lit from other skies.
1883. B. W. Richardson, Field of Disease, 211. It [Phthisis] … in nine cases out of ten is first lighted up by cold or some nervous depression.
c. absol. To light up: to light one’s pipe, cigar, etc. colloq.
1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxf., xlix. ‘I suppose I may light up,’ said Drysdale … pulling out his cigar-case.
d. intr. To take fire, be lighted; transf. to ‘kindle,’ become suffused with light.
c. 1400. Maundev. (1839), v. 60. His Lampe schal lighte … withouten touchinge of ony Man.
1820–71. Miss Cary, Poems (1876), 94. The eve had just begun to light, Along the lovely west.
1845. Mrs. S. C. Hall, Whiteboy, xi. 97. A sky, just lighting into a pale, bright gray—an intimation of the first dawn of morning.
fig. 1860. Geo. Eliot, Mill on Fl., II. iv. ‘You poor-spirited imp,’ said Tom, lighting up immediately at Philip’s fire.
3. trans. To give light to (a room or the like); to make light or luminous; to illuminate; esp. to furnish with the ordinary means of illumination. (Rarely with up.)
c. 1200. Ormin, 7279. Crist iss ec soþ sunnebæm Þatt all þiss werelld lihhteþþ.
c. 1205. Lay., 25595. Mid his feure he lihte al þis lond-riche.
c. 1250. Hymn Virgin, 12, in Trin. Coll. Hom., App. 255. A leome newe þat al þis world haueð iliȝt.
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., 2506, Phillis. The mone hath … Syn that thylke day … foure tymes lyght the worlde ageyn.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 6038. Torchis and tendlis the tenttes to light.
1509. Hawes, Past. Pleas., I. x. Cleare Dyana … Gan for to ryse, lightyng our emispery.
1593. Shaks., Rich. II., III. ii. 38. When the searching Eye of Heaven is hid Behind the Globe, that lights the lower world.
1715. Notice, in Lond. Gaz., No. 5351/3. They intend to … grant Liberty for Lighting the City of London.
1802. Campbell, Hohenlinden, ii. Commanding fires of death to light The darkness of her scenery.
1840. Penny Cycl., XVIII. 292/1. St. Andrew’s church … is lighted with gas.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., iii. I. 362. Letters patent conveying to him, for a term of years, the exclusive right of lighting up London.
1860. Merc. Marine Mag., VII. 216. The Irish Channel is well lighted.
1870. Morris, Earthly Par., II. III. 184. When he Had … reached the hut now litten bright.
1875. Howells, Foregone Concl., 3. An apartment so brightly lit by a window looking on the sunny canal.
b. To light up: to furnish or fill with abundance of light; to illuminate in a special manner; to bring into prominence by means of light.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 50, ¶ 7. A huge Room lighted up with abundance of Candles. Ibid., No. 90, ¶ 7. The Room was lighted up on all Sides.
1824. W. Irving, T. Trav., II. 146. Lit up by the rising moon.
1855. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xi. III. 1. In the evening every window from Whitechapel to Piccadilly was lighted up.
1884. ‘Rita,’ Vivienne, II. iii. The spring sunshine lit up the grey towers.
fig. 1859. Jephson, Brittany, xi. 180. Once you can succeed in lighting up their imaginations.
c. transf. (Chiefly with up.) To cause (the eyes, features) as it were to gleam with animation or lively expression. Also, to brighten up (writing). Also intr. for refl. or passive.
a. 1766. Mrs. F. Sheridan, Mem. Sidn. Biddulph, IV. 77. Her expressive features all lit up with Joy.
1787. Mad. D’Arblay, Diary, 13 July. A ray of genius … instantly lights up his whole countenance.
1800. Mrs. Hervey, Mourtray Fam., I. 269. Her eyes lighted with pleasure.
1826. Disraeli, Viv. Grey, V. viii. A smile, rather of pity than derision, lighted up her face.
1854. H. Rogers, Ess. (1860), II. 20. The style of Locke is … perpetually lighted up with vivacious illustration.
1855. A. Manning, Old Chelsea Bun-house, vii. 110. I never saw a Face light up with Joy as Gatty’s did, that Moment.
1867. Freeman, Norm. Conq. (1876), I. App. 694. He lights up and gives us a spirited account.
1888. Besant, Inner House, ii. 34. I see the faces of all light up with satisfaction.
1888. Burgon, Lives 12 Gd. Men, II. xii. 349. All his face [would] become lighted up with the fun of the story.
4. To give light to (a person) so as to enable him to see what he is doing; hence, to show the way to. lit. and fig. Also absol.
c. 1200. Ormin, 19089. Soþ lihht … Þat lihhteþ all þatt lihhtedd iss, To gan þe rihhte weȝȝe.
1422. trans. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv., 206. Prayer … lightyth a man to the lowe of god.
1551. Recorde, Pathw. Knowl., To Rdr. If my light may so light some other, to espie and marke my faultes.
1565. Cooper, Thesaurus, s.v. Fax, Præferre facem adolescentulo ad libidinem, To be an example or sterer of a yonge man to lecherie … as it were to light him the way.
1604. E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, IV. viii. 230. Those that labour therein, vse candles to light them.
1605. Shaks., Macb., V. v. 23. And all our yesterdayes, haue lighted Fooles The way to dusty death.
1609. T. Cocks, Diary (1901), 83. Given the Sonne [inn] boye Pawle for lightinge mee home jd.
1664. Butler, Hud., II. iii. 817. Were the Stars only made to light Robbers and Burglarers by night?
1665. Boyle, Occas. Refl., III. ii. Methinks the blaze of this Fire should light me to discern something instructive in it.
c. 1700. Earl Montagu, in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.), I. 350. A Dutch lanthorn of horn upon a great stick, to light before a coach when it is dark.
a. 1766. Mrs. F. Sheridan, Mem. Sidn. Biddulph, V. 267. A little spark of that virtue which … might have lit me to happiness and honour.
18[?]. Oranges & Lemons, in Mrs. Gomme, Tradit. Games (1898), II. 27. Here comes a candle to light you to bed.
1858. Hawthorne, Fr. & It. Jrnls., I. 121. Poetical faith enough to light her cheerfully through all these mists of incredulity.
5. To enlighten or illumine spiritually or intellectually. ? Obs. or arch.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 63. Þet he … mid his halie gast us lihte.
c. 1200. Ormin, 18990. All mannkinn iss lihhtedd Þurrh fulluhht & þurrh Crisstenndom.
c. 1320. Cast. Love, 793. That is the clere love and bryȝht That heo is alle with i-lyȝht.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Sec. Nun’s T., 71. And of thy light my soule in prison lighte.
1422. trans. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv., 133. God … light ȝoure resoun, and make cleer ȝoure vnderstondynge.
1535. Coverdale, Heb. vi. 4. They which were once lighted & haue taisted of the heauenly gyfte.
1552. Abp. Hamilton, Catech. (1884), 42. Your hartis salbe lichtit with the licht of grace.
1819. Heber, Hymn, ‘From Greenland’s icy mountains.’ We, whose souls are lighted With Wisdom from on high.
6. absol. To dispose the light in a picture.
1889. Pall Mall Gaz., 18 Jan., 3/1. Rembrandt lighted falsely for the sake of effect.
Light, erroneous spelling of lite, LEET sb.2
1833. Rep. Sel. Committee on Municipal Corporations, 304. [At Hull] the mayor and alderman put out two names called lights, on a vacancy for alderman. Ibid., 305. The chamberlains [of Hull] … are chosen by the burgesses out of four lights.
