brighten

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English brightnen,^[2][3][4] inherited from Old English beorhtnian (“to make bright, to glorify”),^[5][6][7] also gebeorhtnian, the slightly more common form in Northumbrian texts.^[8][7] The OED takes it as formed from English bright + -en, from the adjective or from the older simple verb, and in later use as re-formed from the adjective.^[8][6][9] The simple verb, Old English byrhtan (“to be bright”) and geberhtan (“to make bright”), survived into Middle English, often in figurative senses such as "cleanse, purify" and "explain", but is now obsolete.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

To become bright, to shine more: Old English, in glosses to Aldhelm; also, transitively, to make glorious, in the Lindisfarne Gospels (John 12:28), where ic berhtnade glosses Latin clarificavi.^[8][5]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the verb meant to shine or glitter, as in the Cursor Mundi, and to make the eyes clear-sighted.^[2][8] The transitive sense of lighting something up is recorded from 1567, and that of making metal or wood shine by polishing from 1582.^[8] The figurative sense of dispelling gloom and cheering someone appears in the 1590s,^[9] and the intransitive use of a person or mood becoming more cheerful from 1692; both are now often used with up.^[8][6] Later uses extended the idea to the complexion (1656), to colour (1667) and to flavour (1833).^[8] Johnson (1755) listed "to make bright; to make to shine", "to make gay, or alert", "to make illustrious" and "to make acute, or witty", and, as a neuter verb, "to grow bright; to clear up".^[10] In West Yorkshire dialect, brighten (also breeten) meant to make oneself quick, to hurry up,^[11] and in Hampshire a lichen used for weak eyes was called brighten.^[11]

Timeline

• Old English – to become bright; to make glorious.^[8][5] Etymonline dates the intransitive sense from about 1300.^[9]
• c. 1450 – to make the eyes keener, in the Wars of Alexander.^[8][2]
• 1567 – to light up, illuminate.^[8]
• 1582 – to make metal, stone or wood shine by polishing.^[8]
• 1607 – to make a person or mood more cheerful.^[8] Etymonline dates this sense to the 1590s.^[9]
• 1656 – to give a healthy glow to the complexion.^[8]
• 1659 – intransitive, to become better or more hopeful.^[8]
• 1667 – to make a colour more vivid.^[8]
• 1692 – of a person, to become more cheerful.^[8]
• 1833 – to make a flavour lighter or tangier.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make bright or brighter; to illuminate: A row of lanterns brightened the garden path.^[12][13][8]
2. To become bright or brighter; of the sky or weather, to clear up: By noon the sky had brightened.^[12][8][10]
3. To make something shine, especially by polishing.^[13][8]
4. To make or become more cheerful or lively, often with up: Her face brightened when she saw the letter.^[12][6][8]
5. To make or become more hopeful or promising: The team's prospects brightened after the win.^[8][6]
6. To make a colour more vivid, or to become more vivid in colour.^[13][8]
7. To make more illustrious.^[13][10]
8. To make a flavour lighter or more tangy, as by adding citrus.^[8]

Word family

• brightener
• rebrighten
• unbrightened

Related words

• bright
• brightness

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
6. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster