bright English · revision 4418

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 737|origins=ine-pro *bhereg-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /braɪt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ang|bryht]], by metathesis from beorht, Anglian berht,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) “bright; splendid; clear-sounding; beautiful; divine”,^(Etymonline) from [[gem-pro|*berhtaz|t=bright]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) also the source of Old Saxon berht, Old High German beraht, Old Norse bjartr and Gothic bairhts.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) The root is [[ine-pro|*bhereg-|t=to shine; bright, white]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) which also gave Sanskrit bhrājate “it shines”,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) Lithuanian brėkšta “dawns” and Welsh berth “beautiful”.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It appears in names, Erconberct, about 737,^(Barnhart 1988) and as berht before 830, in the Vespasian Psalter.^(Barnhart 1988) In the OED its first senses, before 1000, are of the sun and stars and of polished metals and stones that reflect light.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old English used it also for what is clear to the mind, from before 1000,^(OED 1989) and the adverb for a sound that rings clearly.^(OED 1989) Of people, “beautiful, fair”, it is from about 1250, now archaic,^(OED 1989) and of vivid colours from 1375.^(OED 1989) “Lit up with happiness or hope”, and hence “hopeful, cheering”, is from 1751.^(OED 1989) The sense “quick-witted, clever” is from 1741.^(Etymonline) The Germanic word was common in personal names, as in Robert, Albert, Bertha, Gilbert, Herbert and Hubert; in modern German it survives only in names such as Albrecht.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) ''Bright and early'', very early in the morning, is first American, from 1837.^(OED 1989) The noun ''brights'', bright colours, is from 1969 in Merriam-Webster.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 737 – in names.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * a. 1000 – shining; reflecting light.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1250 – of a person, beautiful.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1375 – of colours.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1741 – clever.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1751 – cheerful, hopeful.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1837 – ''bright and early''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1969 – noun, a bright colour.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Giving out or reflecting much light; [[shining]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Of a colour, vivid and strong.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # [[Glorious]], splendid: ''the brightest star of the opera''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Full of promise: ''a bright future''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Lively and cheerful.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Quick-witted; [[intelligent]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # In a bright way; brightly.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''brights'': bright colours, or the high beams of a vehicle's headlights.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[brightly]]

+ * [[brightish]]

+ * [[brighten]]

+ * [[bright-eyed]]

+ * [[brightness]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Albert]]

+ * [[Robert]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage groups bright with brilliant, radiant, lustrous, lambent and luminous: bright is the most general, brilliant implies intense, often sparkling light, radiant suggests giving off light, and lustrous a soft reflected sheen.^(AHD) In Norfolk and Suffolk dialect, marshes were said to be bright when covered with water.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}