lighten
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈlaɪ.tən/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
- Rhymes: -aɪtən
Etymology 1
From Middle English lightnen, equivalent to light + -en.
Verb
lighten (third-person singular simple present lightens, present participle lightening, simple past and past participle lightened)
- (transitive) To make brighter or clearer; to illuminate.
- to lighten an apartment with lamps or gas; to lighten the streets
- 1667, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis, 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 1154964007, [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 606515358, (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 2022, p. 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 606515358, [Act III, scene 3]:
- […] behold his eye,
As bright as is the eagle’s, lightens forth
Controlling majesty:
-
- To illuminate with knowledge; to enlighten.
- 1599, John Davies, “Of the Soule of man, and the immortalitie thereof” in Nosce Teipsum. This Oracle Expounded in Two Elegies, London: John Standish, p. 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.
- 1599, John Davies, “Of the Soule of man, and the immortalitie thereof” in Nosce Teipsum. This Oracle Expounded in Two Elegies, London: John Standish, p. 10,
Conjugation
Conjugation 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 | |
†Archaic or obsolete.
Derived terms
- lighten up
Translations
to make brighter or clearer
|
to become light in weight
|
to become brighter or clearer
|
to flash lightning, to give off lightning
|
Etymology 2
From Middle English lightnen, equivalent to light + -en.
Verb
lighten (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.
- (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 964384981, 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
Conjugation of lighten
| infinitive | (to) lighten | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| present tense | past tense | ||
| 1st-person singular | lighten | lightened | |
| 2nd-person singular | |||
| 3rd-person singular | lightens | ||
| plural | lighten | ||
| subjunctive | lighten | lightened | |
| imperative | lighten | — | |
| participles | lightening | lightened | |
Derived terms
- lighten up
Translations
to alleviate
|
to make light in weight
|
to make less serious
|
to become light in weight
|
to become less serious
|
Etymology 3
From light + -en.
Verb
lighten (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
- alight
Anagrams
- enlight, lething