alight
/əˈlaɪt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.00 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
Often followed by from or off: to get off an animal which one has been riding; to dismount; to descend or exit from a vehicle; hence, to complete one's journey; to stop.
Intransitive verb
verb
Often followed by at, on, or upon: of something aloft: to descend and settle; to land, to lodge, to rest.
Intransitive verb
verb
Often followed by on or upon: of a blow, something thrown, etc.: to land heavily.
Archaic; Intransitive verb
verb
Often followed by on or upon: to find by accident; to chance upon, to come upon.
Intransitive verb
Example Sentences
- "He alighted from his horse."
- "Passengers are alighting from the carriage."
- "Madam, there is a-lighted at your gate / A yong Venetian, one that comes before / To ſignifie th'approaching of his Lord, / From whom he bringeth ſenſible regreets; […]"
- "He that neuer alights off a rich Farmer or country Gentleman, till he haue drawne money from him, is called The Snaffle."
- "The Horſemen all alighted, and the footmen taking Don Quixote and Sancho forcibly in their Armes, they ſet them in the Court, […]"
- "The Coach ſet us down by the Side of a large Common, about five Miles diſtant from our Houſe; and we alighted, and walked a little Way, chuſing not to have the Coach come nearer, that we might be taken as little Notice of as poſſible; […]"
Etymology
From Middle English alighten (“to descend from a place: to dismount, get off; to descend to a place: to arrive or stop (at a place); to land; to drop; to attack; of lightning: to strike; to leap on to, mount; to descend in rank; to cause (someone) to lose rank; to come forth, spring from; to alleviate, relieve; (Christianity) of Jesus: to come down to earth from heaven, become incarnate; to descend (to hell); of the Holy Spirit, angels, miracles, etc.: to descend (from heaven); to descend (upon someone); to appear in a place”) [and other forms], from a merger of: * Old English ālīhtan (“to alight, dismount”), from ā- (prefix meaning ‘away, from, off, out’) + līhtan, līehtan (“to descend, alight, light; to make easy or light, alleviate, lighten, relieve”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ- (“not heavy, light”); and * Old English ġelīhtan (“to descend; to come down, dismount; to make easy or light, alleviate, lighten, relieve”), from ġe- (intensifying prefix, attached to verbs to indicate completeness or perfection) + līhtan, līehtan (see above). The English word is analyzable as a- (prefix meaning ‘away, from, off, out’) + light (“to ease, lighten; to take off; to unload; to dismount; (archaic) to come down, land; to dismount”). Cognates * Middle Low German erlichten (“to lighten”) * Old High German gilīhten (“to make less heavy, lighten”) (Middle High German gelīhten); Old High German irlīhten (“to alleviate”) (Middle High German erlīhten, modern German erleichten)
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /əˈlaɪt/
- British English: /əˈlaɪt/
Usage
Inflected Forms
alights (present, singular)
alighting (participle, present)
alighted (participle, past)
alighted (past)
alit (participle, past)
alit (past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
alighted (first person, past)
alightest (archaic, present)
alighted (past, second person)
alightedst (archaic, past)