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lightness

noun
/ˈlaɪtnəs/

Etymology

From Middle English lightnes, lightnesse, from Old English *lēohtnes (“lightness”) (compare Old English lēohtmōdnes (“lightness”, literally “light-moodedness”), līhtingnes (“lightness, alleviation”)); equivalent to light (“not heavy”, adjective) + -ness (suffix forming nouns). Cognate with Middle Low German luchtnisse, lüchtnisse (“lightness, frivolity, joyfulness”).

  1. inherited from *liuhtinassī✻
  2. inherited from līhtnes
  3. inherited from lightnes

Definitions

  1. the condition of being illuminated

    • Well, darkness has a hunger that's insatiable and lightness has a call that's hard to hear.

  2. the relative whiteness or transparency of a colour

  3. The product of being illuminated.

  4. ›+ 4 more definitions

    1. The state of having little (or less) weight, or little force.

      • The unique chassis design is largely the secret of the lightness of the locomotive.

    2. Agility of movement.

    3. Freedom from worry.

      • In the lightness of my heart I sang catches of songs as my horse gayly bore me along the well-remembered road.

    4. Levity, frivolity

      Levity, frivolity; inconsistency.

      • Seneca […] accounts it a filthy lightness in men, every day to lay new foundations of their life, but who doth otherwise?
      • And if the sudden and unannounced arrival of Miss Melhuish at "The Turrets" contained any element of surprise for him, his habitual imperturbability enabled him to pass it off with disarming lightness.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at lightness. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01lightness02whiteness03racial04skill05opposed06opposition07contrasting08contrast

A definitional loop anchored at lightness. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

8 hops · closes at lightness

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

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