light

Meanings

1. 1
   adv

   with few burdens

   experienced travellers travel light

2. 2
   adj

   characterized by or emitting light

   a room that is light when the shutters are open

3. 3
   adj

   with regard to color, having a relatively small amount of coloring agent

   Light blue is a color associated with the University of North Carolina.

4. 4
   adj

   (used of soil) loose and large-grained in consistency

   light soil

5. 5
   adj

   (of sleep) easily disturbed

   in a light doze

6. 6
   adj

   of comparatively little physical weight or density

   a light load

7. 7
   adj

   designed for ease of movement or to carry little weight

   light aircraft

8. 8
   adj

   not great in degree or quantity or number

   a light sentence

Etymology

From Middle English liȝt, lyghte, from Old English lēht, lēoht, līht, from Proto-West Germanic *lį̄ht, from Proto-Germanic *linhtaz or *līhtaz (“light (in weight)”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ- (“lightweight”). Cognates Cognate with Dutch licht (“light (not heavy)”), German leicht (“light (not heavy)”), Luxembourgish liicht (“lightweight”), Vilamovian łajcht (“easy”), Yiddish לײַכט (laykht, “light (of low weight)”), Danish let (“light (not heavy)”), Faroese lættur (“light (of weight); easy (to do)”), Icelandic léttur (“light (not weighing much); easy”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian N…