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Etymology and origin of the English word lighten

English has two verbs spelled lighten: one from light "bright", the other from light "not heavy".[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

  • /ˈlaɪ.tn̩/[4]

lighten1 make or become bright

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1325
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *lewk-
Etymology tree of lighten1
inherited borrowed derived
English light
English lighten
From the same root · lighten1
English daylight ← light
English flashlight ← light
English lighthouse ← light
English spotlight ← light
English twilight ← light

Etymology

The verb meaning to make bright is inherited from Middle English lightenen, also lightnen and lihtenen,[3][5][6][7] formed from English light (“bright”) + -en.[2][8][7][3] Etymonline takes the noun as its base instead.[1] The adjective is from Old English lēoht (“luminous, bright”), from Proto-Germanic *leuhtaz, from the same source as the noun, which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“light, brightness”).[1][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

To make bright, to illuminate: before 1325 in Barnhart's dating,[3] early 14th century in Etymonline's.[1] The OED's first record, about 1350, is of shedding spiritual light on someone, and its first for lighting something up is the early Wycliffite Bible, before 1382.[2]

Semantic evolution

Middle English used it both of physical light and of spiritual enlightenment,[2][5] and in biblical language for giving sight to the blind, a use that ended in the 16th century.[2][8] From before 1382 it was also intransitive, to shine or grow bright.[2][1] Before 1398 it also meant to flash with lightning, usually in it lightens or to thunder and lighten;[2][8][1] a noun lighten, lightning, was used from about 1425 to 1860.[2] About 1450 it was used of the day dawning or the sky growing light,[2] a sense the Yorkshire dialect kept.[10] Faces and eyes have lightened or brightened with animation since 1605 (transitive) and 1749 (intransitive),[2] or 1795 in Etymonline.[1] Johnson (1755) gave "to illuminate; to enlighten" as its first sense.[11]

Timeline

  • before 1325 – to make bright.[3]
  • c. 1350 – to enlighten spiritually (obsolete by 1682).[2]
  • before 1382 – to light up, illuminate; to shine, grow luminous.[2]
  • before 1398 – to flash with lightning.[2]
  • c. 1450 – of the day or sky, to dawn, grow light.[2]
  • 1605 – to make a face or the eyes bright with animation.[2]
  • 1749 – of the face or eyes, to brighten.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make something brighter or less dark; to illuminate: A row of lanterns lightened the path.[7][2][8]
  2. To become brighter or paler: The sky lightened in the east.[8][2]
  3. Of the face or eyes: to become animated or cheerful; to make them so.[2][8][1]
  4. To flash with lightning, usually in it lightens.[2][8][1]
  5. (archaic) To enlighten spiritually or intellectually.[7][8][2]
  6. (obsolete, 1382–1535) To give sight to the eyes of a blind person.[2][8]

Word family

  • lightener

lighten2 make or become less heavy

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1350 Joseph of Arimathie (composed perhaps c. 1350; manuscript c. 1390)
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ-
Etymology tree of lighten2
inherited borrowed derived
English light
English lighten
From the same root · lighten2
English daylight ← light
English flashlight ← light
English lighthouse ← light
English spotlight ← light
English twilight ← light

Etymology

The verb meaning to make less heavy is inherited from Middle English lihtnen, later lightenen,[3][5][6] formed from English light (“not heavy”) + -en.[2][8][1][7][3] The adjective is from Old English lēoht (“not heavy”), from Proto-Germanic *linhtaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ- (“light in weight”).[1][9] Old English already had a verb līhtan (“to alight; to make less heavy”), the source of alight, which the OED compares.[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To relieve a person or thing of a burden: Barnhart dates the verb probably to about 1350, as lihtnen, to make lighter or more cheerful,[3] and Etymonline to the mid-14th century.[1] The OED's first record is in Joseph of Arimathie (composed perhaps about 1350, copied about 1390).[2]

Semantic evolution

By about 1400 it was used of unloading a ship,[2] and, in Etymonline's dating, of making someone cheerful;[1] the heart or mind was lightened of its burden from about 1440.[2] The reduction of something abstract, such as pain or a penalty, is recorded from before 1425, and of a material weight from 1557.[2] The intransitive sense "to become less heavy" dates from 1720, in Defoe.[2][1] In 1782 it was first used of making a mood or situation less tedious or more cheerful,[2] and in 1873 of a mood easing,[2] the source of lighten up.[8][2] In 1600 Shakespeare could lighten someone's heels, making them nimble, in Much Ado about Nothing.[2] Johnson (1755) gave "to exonerate; to unload", "to make less heavy" and "to exhilarate; to cheer" as its senses.[11] In Derbyshire and Yorkshire dialect it still meant to cheer someone up.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 1350 – to relieve of a burden.[2][3]
  • c. 1400 – to unload a ship.[2]
  • before 1425 – to alleviate, lessen something abstract.[2]
  • c. 1440 – of the heart or mind, to be relieved, cheered.[2]
  • 1557 – to reduce the weight of something.[2]
  • 1720 – to become less heavy.[2][1]
  • 1782 – to make a mood or situation more cheerful.[2]
  • 1873 – to become more relaxed or cheerful.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make something less heavy; to reduce its weight or load: They lightened the canoe by leaving the tent behind.[7][2][8][11]
  2. To relieve someone or something of a burden; to unload a ship.[7][2][8]
  3. To make something less severe; to alleviate: The new hires lightened her workload.[7][2][8]
  4. To make someone or something more cheerful or less tedious: A few jokes lightened the meeting.[7][2][11]
  5. To become lighter or less heavy; to ease off: By noon the rain had lightened.[8][2]
  6. lighten up: to become more relaxed or less serious.[8][2]

Word family

  • lighten up

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ 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)
  6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  10. ^ 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)
  11. ^ a b c d Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.

Derived terms

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Lighten.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/lighten. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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