alight
Verb
Verb Forms: alighted, alit, alighting, alights
- To descend from the air and settle; to land.
- to come to rest, settle
- come down
- "the birds alighted"
- To make less heavy; to lighten; to alleviate, to relieve.
- Often followed by from or off: to get off an animal which one has been riding; to dismount; to descend or exit from a vehicle; hence, to complete one's journey; to stop.
- Often followed by at, on, or upon: of something aloft: to descend and settle; to land, to lodge, to rest.
- To come down or go down; to descend.
- Often followed by on or upon: of a blow, something thrown, etc.: to land heavily.
- Often followed by on or upon: to find by accident; to chance upon, to come upon.
- To arrive.
- To cast light on (something); to illuminate, to light up.
- To set light to (something); to set (something) on fire; to ignite, to light.
Adjective Satellite
- lighted up by or as by fire or flame
- "candles alight on the tables"
Adj
- Burning, lit, on fire.
- Often followed by with: shining with light; luminous, radiant; also, brightly coloured; vivid.
- Often followed by with: shining with light; luminous, radiant; also, brightly coloured; vivid.
- Of an electrical light source: switched on and emitting light.
- Aglow with activity or emotion.
Adv
- Chiefly in set alight: in flames, on fire; aflame.
Examples
- A flying bird alights upon a tree.
- He alighted from his horse.
- Her face was alight with happiness.
- My gaze would alight on the perfect spot for a seven-letter word.
- Passengers are alighting from the carriage.
- Snow alights on a roof.
- The burning embers and the dry wind quickly set the whole neighbourhood alight.
- The sticks were damp and wouldn’t catch alight.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English alighten (“to descend from a place: to dismount, get off; to descend to a place: to arrive or stop (at a place); to land; to drop; to attack; of lightning: to strike; to leap on to, mount; to descend in rank; to cause (someone) to lose rank; to come forth, spring from; to alleviate, relieve; (Christianity) of Jesus: to come down to earth from heaven, become incarnate; to descend (to hell); of the Holy Spirit, angels, miracles, etc.: to descend (from heaven); to descend (upon someone); to appear in a place”) [and other forms], from a merger of:
* Old English ālīhtan (“to alight, dismount”), from ā- (prefix meaning ‘away, from, off, out’) + līhtan, līehtan (“to descend, alight, light; to make easy or light, alleviate, lighten, relieve”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ- (“not heavy, light”); and
* Old English ġelīhtan (“to descend; to come down, dismount; to make easy or light, alleviate, lighten, relieve”), from ġe- (intensifying prefix, attached to verbs to indicate completeness or perfection) + līhtan, līehtan (see above).
The English word is analyzable as a- (prefix meaning ‘away, from, off, out’) + light (“to ease, lighten; to take off; to unload; to dismount; (archaic) to come down, land; to dismount”).
Cognates
* Middle Low German erlichten (“to lighten”)
* Old High German gilīhten (“to make less heavy, lighten”) (Middle High German gelīhten); Old High German irlīhten (“to alleviate”) (Middle High German erlīhten, modern German erleichten)
Synonyms
ablaze, afire, aflame, aflare, climb down, light, on fire, perch, aglow, alight, alighten, beamful, beamsome, beamy, belight, beshine, bright, brilliant, debark, disembark, effulgent, enlighten, fire, get off, get out, glowing, illume, illuminate, illuminating, illumine, illustrate, irradiate, lambent, light up, lighted, lighten, lit, lucent, luciferous, lucific, luminant, luminiferous, luminous, luster, lustrate, lustrous, orient, profulgent, radiant, refulgent, resplendent, shed light on, sheeny, shining, shiny, unlight
Scrabble Score: 10
alight: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordalight: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
alight: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary