lighten B2 Topic:Cause, Change & Process US /ˈlaɪ.tn̩/ See IPA manual Freq #8510 Meanings 1 verb To become brighter, or to make something brighter. The sky began to lighten just before dawn. 2 verb To make a burden, worry, or load smaller or easier. Sharing the work helped lighten her load. 3 verb To become more cheerful or relaxed. After a glass of wine, they lightened up a bit. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 verb · to become brighter, or to... light upbrighten 2 verb · to make a burden, worry, or... easereduce 3 verb · to become more cheerful or... lighten upbuoy up Word family Forms lightenedlighteninglightens Derived forms alightenforlightenlighteneroutlightenoverlightenrelightenunlightened Common collocations lighten up Verb + adverb Etymology AI details From Middle English lightnen, equivalent to light + -en. lightnen Middle English View etymology graph -> Topics Cause, Change & Process Actions & Processes External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # lighten **Type:** Word **Level:** B2 **Part of speech:** verb **IPA (US):** /ˈlaɪ.tn̩/ **Frequency rank:** 8510 ## Meanings 1. To become brighter, or to make something brighter. 2. To make a burden, worry, or load smaller or easier. 3. To become more cheerful or relaxed. ## Examples - The sky began to lighten just before dawn. - Sharing the work helped lighten her load. - After a glass of wine, they lightened up a bit. ## Derived Forms - alighten - forlighten - lightener - outlighten - overlighten - relighten - unlightened ## Roots and Affixes - Root: lightnen ## Etymology From Middle English lightnen, equivalent to light + -en. ## AI Etymology Lighten comes from Middle English lightnen, equivalent to light + -en. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern verbal form is built from the named base and affix. ## Topics - Cause, Change & Process - Actions & Processes markdown