light bulb

See also: lightbulb and light-bulb

English

Alternative forms

light-bulb, lightbulb

Etymology

light +‎ bulb First attested in 1885.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪtˌbʌlb/
Audio (US) (file)

Noun

light bulb (plural light bulbs)

An evacuated glass bulb containing a metal filament which is heated by electrical resistance to produce light.
Synonyms: bulb, glow-lamp, incandescent lamp, (Australia) light globe
(by extension) An article that resembles such a bulb and converts electricity to light by any process.
a fluorescent light bulb
an LED light bulb
(figuratively) Used in reference to the sudden arrival of a realization, an inspiration, an idea, or the like.
a light bulb moment
- 1949, in Forbes (magazine), volume 64, page 18:
  Figuratively speaking, a light-bulb flashed over Galvin's head early this year, and in March–along […]
- 2010, Sandy Abrams, Your Idea, Inc.‎, Abrams Media, →ISBN, page xi:
  A light bulb went off in my head as I had an incredible idea for a beauty product.

Derived terms

light bulb joke
light-bulb moment

Translations

evacuated glass bulb containing a metal filament that produces light

Albanian: llambë (sq) f
Amharic: አምፖል (ʾämpol)
Arabic: لَمْبَة‎ f (lamba), مِصْبَاح‎ (ar) m (miṣbāḥ)
Armenian: էլեկտրական լամպ (ēlektrakan lamp), (colloquial) լամպուշկա (lampuška)
Azerbaijani: lampa (az), lampoçka
Belarusian: ля́мпа напа́льваньня f (ljámpa napálʹvanʹnja), ля́мпачка f (ljámpačka), ля́мпа (be) f (ljámpa), ла́мпа (be) f (lámpa), ла́мпачка f (lámpačka)
Bulgarian: кру́шка (bg) f (krúška), електри́ческа кру́шка f (elektríčeska krúška)
Burmese: ဘတ်သီး (my) (bhatsi:)
Catalan: bombeta (ca) f
Chinese:
Cantonese: 電燈膽, 电灯胆 (din⁶ dang¹ daam²)
Mandarin: 電燈泡／电灯泡 (zh) (diàndēngpào), 燈泡／灯泡 (zh) (dēngpào)
Min Nan: 電球, 电球 (tiān-kiû), 電火球, 电火球 (tiān-hóe-kiû), 電珠, 电珠 (tiān-chu)
Chuukese: tama
Czech: žárovka (cs) f
Danish: pære (da) c
Dutch: gloeilamp (nl) f, lichtpeertje n, peer (nl) c, peertje (nl) n
Esperanto: ampolo
Estonian: elektripirn (et), pirn (et), lamp (et)
Faroese: ljóspera f
Finnish: hehkulamppu (fi), lamppu (fi)
French: ampoule (fr) f, lampe (fr) f, ampoule électrique (fr) f
Georgian: ნათურა (natura), ელექტრონათურა (elekṭronatura)
German: Glühbirne (de) f, Glühlampe (de) f, Birne (de) f
Greek: ηλεκτρικός λαμπτήρας m (ilektrikós lamptíras), ηλεκτρική λυχνία f (ilektrikí lychnía)
Hebrew: נוּרָה‎ (he) f (nurá)
Hindi: बल्ब (hi) (balb), लैंप (hi) m (laimp)
Hungarian: égő (hu), villanykörte (hu), izzó (hu), villanyégő (hu)
Icelandic: ljósapera (is) f
Ido: ampulo (io)
Irish: bolgán m
Italian: lampadina (it) f
Japanese: 電球 (ja) (でんきゅう, denkyū)
Kazakh: лампыша (lampyşa), шам (şam), ләмпішке (lämpışke)
Khmer: អំពូល (ʼɑmpuul), អំផូង (ʼɑmphoung), អំពូលភ្លើង (ʼɑmpuul phləəng)
Korean: 전구(電球) (ko) (jeon'gu), 백열등 (ko) (baegyeoldeung)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: ampûl (ku)
Kyrgyz: чырак (ky) (çırak), лампа (lampa), лампочка (lampoçka)
Lao: ໂຄມໄຟ (lo) (khōm fai)
Latin: ampulla electrica f, globulus electricus m, globus ignifer m
Latvian: kvēlspuldze f, spuldze f
Lithuanian: lemputė f
Lü: ᦶᦉᧂᦺᦝ (ṡaengfay)
Macedonian: светилка f (svetilka), сијалица f (sijalica) (nonstandard)
Malay: mentol lampu
Maori: pūrama
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: чийдэнгийн шил (čiidengiin šil), гэрлийн шил (gerliin šil)
Norman: lampion m, lampion êlectrique m
Norwegian:
Bokmål: lyspære m or f, pære (no) m or f
Nynorsk: lyspære f, ljospære f, pære f
Pashto: ګروپ‎ m (grup)
Persian: لامپ‎ (fa) (lâmp), گروپ‎ (gorup) (Dari)
Polish: żarówka (pl) f
Portuguese: lâmpada (pt) f, foco (pt) m, bulbo (pt) m
Romanian: bec (ro) n
Russian: ла́мпа нака́ливания (ru) f (lámpa nakálivanija), ла́мпочка (ru) f (lámpočka) (colloquial), ла́мпа (ru) f (lámpa)
Scottish Gaelic: bolgan m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: си̏јалица f, жа̀руља f,
Roman: sȉjalica (sh) f, žàrulja (sh) f
Slovak: žiarovka (sk) f
Slovene: žarnica f
Spanish: ampolleta (es) f (Chile), bombilla (es) f (Spain), bombillo (es) m (Caribbean Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela), bujía (es) f (Nicaragua), foco (es) m (Bolivia, Colombian Atlantic Coast, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru), lamparita (es) f (Argentina, Uruguay)
Swahili: balbu
Swedish: glödlampa (sv) c
Tajik: лампача (lampača), лампочка (lampočka), чароғ (čaroġ), чароғча (čaroġča)
Thai: หลอดไฟฟ้า (th) (lɔ̀ɔt-fai-fáa), หลอดไฟ (th) (lɔ̀ɔt-fai)
Tigrinya: ኣምፑል (ʾampul)
Turkish: ampul (tr)
Turkmen: lampa, lampoçka
Ukrainian: ла́мпа розжа́рювання f (lámpa rozžárjuvannja), ла́мпочка f (lámpočka), ла́мпа f (lámpa), жарі́вка f (žarívka)
Uyghur: لامپا‎ (lampa), چىراغ‎ (chiragh), لامپۇچكا‎‎ (lampuchka‎)
Uzbek: lampa (uz), lampochka (uz)
Vietnamese: bóng đèn (vi) (𩃳畑)
Welsh: bwlb golau (cy) m
Yiddish: לעמפּל‎ n (lempl)

resembling article that converts electricity to light

Dutch: peer (nl) c, peertje (nl) n
Finnish: lamppu (fi)
Portuguese: lâmpada (pt) f

sudden arrival of idea etc. — See also translations at light-bulb moment

Finnish: lamppu (fi)