lighten
English
editPronunciation
edit- IPA(key): /ˈlaɪ.tən/, [ˈlaɪtn̩], [ˈlaɪʔn̩]
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- Rhymes: -aɪtən
Etymology 1
editFrom Middle English lightnen, equivalent to light + -en.
Verb
editlighten (third-person singular simple present lightens, present participle lightening, simple past and past participle lightened)
- (transitive) To make brighter or clearer; to illuminate.
- Synonym: light up
- to lighten an apartment with lamps or gas; to lighten the streets
- 1667, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis[1], London: Henry Herringman, stanza 231, p. 59:
- A Key of fire ran all along the shore,
And lighten’d all the river with the blaze:
- (intransitive) To become brighter or clearer; to brighten.
- (intransitive, now rare) To flash lightning, to give off lightning.
- c. 1590 (date written), G[eorge] P[eele], The Old Wiues Tale. […], London: […] Iohn Danter, for Raph Hancocke, and Iohn Hardie, […], published 1595, →OCLC, [line 500]:
- Enter the Conjurer; it lightens and thunders […]
- 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals):
- […] this dreadful night,
That thunders, lightens, opens graves, and roars
As doth the lion.
- 1986, Helen Garner, Yellow Notebook: Diaries 1978-1987, Text Publishing, published 2022, page 182:
- While we were in the Twins it began to thunder and lighten and pour with rain.
- (transitive) To emit or disclose in, or as if in, lightning; to flash out, like lightning.
- 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene 3]:
- […] behold his eye,
As bright as is the eagle’s, lightens forth
Controlling majesty:
- (archaic) To illuminate with knowledge.
- Synonym: enlighten
- 1599, John Davies, “Of the Soule of man, and the immortalitie thereof”, in Nosce Teipsum. This Oracle Expounded in Two Elegies[2], London: John Standish, page 10:
- O Light which mak’st the Light, which makes the Day,
Which setst the Eye without and Mind within,
Lighten my spirit with one cleare heavenly ray,
Which now to view it selfe doth first begin.
Conjugation
editConjugation of lighten
| infinitive | (to) lighten | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| present tense | past tense | ||
| 1st-person singular | lighten | lightened | |
| 2nd-person singular | lighten, lightenest† | lightened, lightenedst† | |
| 3rd-person singular | lightens, lighteneth† | lightened | |
| plural | lighten | ||
| subjunctive | lighten | lightened | |
| imperative | lighten | — | |
| participles | lightening | lightened | |
Derived terms
editTranslations
editto make brighter or clearer
to become light in weight
|
to become brighter or clearer
to flash lightning, to give off lightning
Etymology 2
editFrom Middle English lightnen, equivalent to light + -en.
Verb
editlighten (third-person singular simple present lightens, present participle lightening, simple past and past participle lightened)
- (transitive) To alleviate; to reduce the burden of.
- Sorrow can be lightened by being openly brought out.
- 2019 February 1, J. C. Garden, “Interrogating innocence: “Childhood” as exclusionary social practice”, in Childhood[3], volume 26, number 1, page 55:
- She cites a 2015 British poll conducted by the Family Holiday Association that found vacations can serve as “happiness anchors” that provide memories of familial joy to lighten the burdens of adulthood.
- (transitive) To make light or lighter in weight.
- (transitive) To make less serious or more cheerful.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 34:5:
- They looked unto him, were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.
- (intransitive) To become light or lighter in weight.
- (intransitive) To become less serious or more cheerful.
Conjugation
editConjugation of lighten
| infinitive | (to) lighten | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| present tense | past tense | ||
| 1st-person singular | lighten | lightened | |
| 2nd-person singular | lighten, lightenest† | lightened, lightenedst† | |
| 3rd-person singular | lightens, lighteneth† | lightened | |
| plural | lighten | ||
| subjunctive | lighten | lightened | |
| imperative | lighten | — | |
| participles | lightening | lightened | |
Derived terms
editTranslations
editto alleviate
|
to make light in weight
|
to make less serious
to become light in weight
|
to become less serious
Etymology 3
editVerb
editlighten (third-person singular simple present lightens, present participle lightening, simple past and past participle lightened)
- To descend; to light.
- Book of Common Prayer
- O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us.
- Book of Common Prayer
Related terms
editAnagrams
editCategories:
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/aɪtən
- Rhymes:English/aɪtən/2 syllables
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms suffixed with -en (inchoative)
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English intransitive verbs
- English terms with rare senses
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