sidelight

English

Etymology

From side +‎ light.

Noun

sidelight (plural sidelights)

1. A light found at the side of something; especially of a vehicle.

   If it starts getting misty, put your sidelights on.

   • 1950 April, Timothy H. Cobb, “The Kenya-Uganda Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 263:

     After dark the train is a lighted snake, as, even when the passengers' lights are out, each carriage has a side-light in the middle just under the eaves.

2. A window found at one or both sides of a door.
3. A piece of incidental information that helps one understand a subject.
   • 1962 October, “New Reading on Railways: The Flying Scotsman 1862-1962. By C. Hamilton Ellis. Allen & Unwin. 6s.”, in Modern Railways, unnumbered page:

     He is well up to form when dealing with passenger stock, notably Victorian and Edwardian and on this and on East Coast motive power he throws many sidelights.

Translations

light at the side of something

• Finnish: sivuvalo

window at the side of a door

• Finnish: sivuikkuna

References

• “sidelight”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.