different between alight vs bright

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: ?-l?t', IPA^(key): /??la?t/
• Rhymes: -a?t

Etymology 1

From Middle English alighten, from a merger of Old English ?l?htan (“to alight, dismount”), from prefix ?- (compare Gothic ????????- (us-), German er- originally meaning "out") + l?htan (“to alight”); and Old English ?el?htan (“to alight, approach, come, come down, dismount”); equivalent to a- +? light (“to dismount”).

Verb

alight (third-person singular simple present alights, present participle alighting, simple past and past participle alighted or alit)

1. (intransitive, alone or with from) To get off or exit a vehicle or animal; to descend; to dismount.

   Passengers are alighting from the carriage.

2. (intransitive, with on or at) To descend and settle, lodge, rest, or stop.
   • 1886-88, Richard F. Burton, The Supplemental Nights to the Thousand Nights and a Night:

     Now when he had reached the King's capital wherein was Alaeddin, he alighted at one of the Kháns; and, when he had rested from the weariness of wayfare, he donned his dress and went down to wander about the streets, where he never passed a group without hearing them prate about the pavilion and its grandeur and vaunt the beauty of Alaeddin and his lovesomeness, his liberality and generosity, his fine manners and his good morals.
3. (intransitive, followed by upon) To find by accident; to come upon.
4. (intransitive) To befall or betide.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.iii:

     His fearefull friends weare out the wofull night, / Ne dare to weepe, nor seeme to vnderstand / The heauie hap, which on them is alight, / Affraid, least to themselues the like mishappen might.

Synonyms

• unlight

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English alighten, from a merger of Old English ?l?htan (“to lighten, relieve, alleviate, take off, take away, alight”) and Old English ?el?htan (“to lighten, mitigate, assuage”); equivalent to a- +? light.

Verb

alight (third-person singular simple present alights, present participle alighting, simple past and past participle alighted)

1. (transitive) To make light or less heavy; lighten; alleviate.

Etymology 3

From Middle English alighten, from Old English ?l?htan (“to light up, enlighten”); equivalent to a- +? light. Cognate with German erleuchten (“to light up, illuminate”).

Verb

alight (third-person singular simple present alights, present participle alighting, simple past and past participle alit or alighted)

1. (transitive) To light; light up; illuminate.
2. (transitive) To set light to; light.

Etymology 4

From Middle English alight, from Old English *?l?hted, past participle of ?l?htan (“to alight”); see above.

Alternative forms

• alighted

Adjective

alight (not comparable)

1. Lit, on fire, switched on.
2. (figuratively) Lit; on fire, burning.

Usage notes

Used only as a predicative.

Translations

References

• “alight”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: br?t, IPA^(key): /b?a?t/
• Rhymes: -a?t

Etymology 1

The adjective is derived from Middle English bright (“giving off much light; of colour or light: brilliant, intense; brightly lit; gleaming, shining; glorious, resplendent; of a person: beautiful, fair, rosy; wonderful; clear; of eyesight: keen; (figuratively) free from sin; enlightened”) [and other forms], from Old English bryht, breht (Northumbrian), a metathetic variant of byrht (Anglian), beorht (West Saxon), berht (“bright, clear”) [and other forms] from Proto-West Germanic *berht, from Proto-Germanic *berhtaz (“bright, shining”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *b?ereg- (“to gleam, whiten”), *b?erH?- (“to shine”).

The noun is derived from Middle English bright (“brightness, brilliance; daylight; light”), from bright (adjective): see above.

The English word is cognate with Albanian bardhë (“white”), Dutch brecht (in personal names), Icelandic bjartur (“bright”), Lithuanian brekšta (“to dawn”), Middle Irish brafad (“blink of an eye”), Norwegian bjart (“bright, clear, shining”), Persian ???????? (barâzidan, “to beautify; to befit”), Russian ????????? (brézžit?, “to dawn; to flicker faintly, glimmer; (figuratively) of a hope, thought, etc.: to begin to manifest, emerge”), Sanskrit ??????? (bhr?jate), Scots bricht (“bright”), Welsh berth (“beautiful, fair, fine”) (obsolete).

Adjective

bright (comparative brighter, superlative brightest)

1. Emitting much light; visually dazzling; luminous, lucent, radiant.
2. Of light: brilliant, intense.
3. Of an object, surface, etc.: reflecting much light; having a high lustre; gleaming, shiny.

   Synonyms: lustrous; see also Thesaurus:shiny

   Antonym: dull

4. Of a place: not dark; well-lit.
5. Of climate or weather: not cloudy or gloomy; fair; also, of a period of time, the sky, etc.: characterized by much sunshine and good weather.
6. (figuratively)
   1. Of a colour: not muted or pale; bold, brilliant, vivid.
   2. Of an object, surface, etc.: having vivid colour(s); colourful.
   3. Of a musical instrument, sound, or a voice: clearly audible; clear, resounding, and often high-pitched.
   4. Of a room or other place: having acoustic qualities that tend to cause much echoing or reverberation of sound, particularly at high frequencies.
   5. Of a scent or taste: not bland or mild; bold, sharp, strong.
   6. Of a substance: clear, transparent; also, pure, unadulterated; (specifically) of wine: free of suspended particles; not cloudy; fine.
   7. Glorious; illustrious.
   8. In good spirits; happy, optimistic.

      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:happy

      Antonyms: see Thesaurus:sad
   9. Of the face or eyes, or a smile: showing happiness or hopefulness; cheerful, lively.
   10. Of a person: lively, vivacious.
   11. Of a period of history or time: happy, prosperous, successful.
   12. Of an opportunity or outlook: having a reasonable chance of success; favourable, good.

   13. Of conversation, writing, etc.: imaginative or sparkling with wit; clever, witty.
   14. Having a clear, quick intellect; intelligent.

       Synonyms: see Thesaurus:intelligent

       Antonyms: see Thesaurus:stupid
   15. (archaic)
       1. Of the eyes: able to see clearly; of eyesight: keen, sharp.
       2. Manifest to the mind as light is to the eyes; clear, evident, plain.
   16. (music) Of a rhythm or tempo: lively, upbeat.
7. (metallurgy) Of a metal object or surface: lacking any protective coating or surface treatment for the prevention of corrosion.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• Appendix:Word formation verb -en noun -ness

Noun

bright (plural brights)

1. (archaic or literary)
   1. Brightness, glow.
   2. (figuratively) Glory, splendour.
2. (chiefly in the plural) Something (especially a product intended for sale) that has vivid colours or a lustrous appearance.
3. A person with a naturalistic worldview with no mystical or supernatural elements.

   Synonyms: humanist, nonsupernaturalist

   Antonyms: super, supernaturalist

   Hyponym: atheist
4. (painting) An artist's brush used in acrylic and oil painting with a long ferrule and a flat, somewhat tapering bristle head.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English brighte (“brightly; (figuratively) brilliantly, lustrously; of colour: boldly, vividly; clearly, distinctly; of voice: loudly”) [and other forms], from Old English breohte, beorhte (West Saxon) [and other forms], ultimately from Proto-Germanic *berhtaz (“bright, shining”); see further at etymology 1.

Adverb

bright (comparative more bright, superlative most bright)

1. (often literary) In a bright manner; brightly, glowingly, luminously, lustrously.
2. (figuratively)
   1. Referring to colour: with bold or vivid colours; brightly, boldly, vividly.
   2. (archaic) Referring to sight, sound, understanding, etc.: clearly, distinctly; brightly.

Derived terms

• bright and early

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English brighten (“to illuminate; to become light, dawn; (figuratively) to cleanse, purify; to clarify, explain”) [and other forms], from Old English beorhtian (“to brighten, shine; to sound clearly or loudly”) [and other forms], probably from beorht (“bright, clear”, adjective) (see further at etymology 1) + -ian (suffix forming verbs from adjectives and nouns). Later uses of the word are probably also derived from the adjective.

Verb

bright (third-person singular simple present brights, present participle brighting, simple past and past participle brighted) (chiefly Britain, dialectal)

1. (transitive) Often followed by up: to cast light on (someone or something); to brighten, to illuminate.
2. (transitive, figuratively) Often followed by up: to cause (someone or something) to be bright (in various senses); to brighten; specifically, to make (someone or something) energetic, or happy and optimistic.

   Synonyms: (to cause to be bright) embrighten, (to make energetic) enliven, delight, gladden, (to make happy) please
3. (intransitive, also figuratively) Often followed by up: to become bright (in various senses); to brighten.

Conjugation

Translations

References

Further reading

• brightness on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Brights movement on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• bright (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia