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alighten

verb
/əˈlaɪtən/

Etymology

From Middle English alighten, from a merger of Old English ālīhtan (“to alight, dismount”), from prefix ā- (compare Gothic 𐌿𐍃- (us-), German er- originally meaning "out") + līhtan (“to alight”); and Old English ġelīhtan (“to alight, approach, come, come down, dismount”); equivalent to alight + -en.

  1. inherited from ġelīhtan — “to alight, approach, come, come down, dismount”
  2. inherited from ālīhtan — “to alight, dismount”
  3. inherited from alighten

Definitions

  1. To alight, to dismount or get down from.

    • When I alighten at my destination, I saw them going in the rickshaw.
    • Her house was barely half a kilometre away from the nearest bus stage; she alightened with ease and wiped the thin layer of sweat that had accumulated on her forehead.
    • In case the train halts on account of such alert, the patrolling parties should alighten from the running train and be on the look out for the offenders.

  2. To alight

    To alight; to land, to descend and rest.

    • The bees always alighten at the bottom of the spike, and, crawling spirally up it, sucked one flower after the other.
    • Both of the two jays that had just moved flew out of the tree and alightened in the boughs of a nearby cedar.
    • Even under the best ecological conditions, only a fraction of the flowers on which a bee alightens provide nectar and/or pollen.

  3. To lighten

    To lighten; to reduce in weight or heaviness.

    • On the fifth day Mr. Hedly (who first motioned lot-drawing) and another died, whereby their boat was somewhat alightened.
  4. ›+ 1 more definition

    1. To make light

      To make light; to illuminate or brighten.

      • Of those who should be alightened by his faith and sanctified by his grace Christ designed to form a holy society, over which he will reign for ever.
      • Sometimes, indeed, when for an hour or two my spirits are alightened, I glimmer a little into futurity; but my principal, and indeed my only pleasurable employment, is looking backwards and forwards in a moral and religious way.
      • My joy shall be in the midst of thousands ; my soul shall alighten through the gloom of the fight !"

The neighborhood

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sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA