Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

rising of the lights

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.27 in modern English

Syllables: ris-ing of the -lights
IPA

28

Scrabble Score

17

Letters

3

Syllables

11

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

An illness or obstructive condition of the larynx, trachea, or lungs, found as a cause of death on bills of mortality in the 16- and 1700s; possibly croup.

Obsolete; Uncountable

Example Sentences

"John Graunt reflected on the increases in death from particular diseases between 1634 and 1660: […] That the Rising of the lights (supposed in most Cases to be the Fits of the Mother) have also encreased in thirty years, […]"
"The December 1759 edition, for example, offers a bleak perspective on an underside of the Enlightenment, Of the 19514 deaths on the London list, […] the causes of death included these: bloody flux, twisting of the guts, evil, French pox, rising of the lights, ..."

Etymology

From lights (“lungs”).

Usage

Questions

What does rising of the lights mean?: An illness or obstructive condition of the larynx, trachea, or lungs, found as a cause of death on bills of mortality in the 16- and 1700s; possibly croup.
Where does rising of the lights come from?: From lights (“lungs”).

How to pronounce rising of the lights

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