Lighten

How to spell lighten

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce lighten

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does lighten mean?

1. verbTo make or become brighter, paler, or more illuminated.
2. verbTo make less heavy, or to reduce a load, worry, or workload.

Lighten in a sentence

• A fresh coat of white paint will lighten the hallway considerably.

• Removing the spare tools will lighten the backpack for the long hike.

• The sky began to lighten just before dawn.

• Hiring an assistant should lighten her workload at the office.

Where does lighten come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This verb is built on the native English word 'light', which in Old English took two forms that happen to look identical today: leoht meaning 'bright, illumination' and leoht meaning 'not heavy, of little weight'. Both come from old Germanic roots, the first related to words for radiance and the second to a root meaning 'easy' or 'nimble'. The suffix -en, also Germanic, was attached to adjectives to form verbs meaning 'to make or become', much as it does in 'darken', 'soften', and 'widen'. Because the two senses of 'light' merged in spelling, the single verb 'lighten' inherited both meanings, so it can mean either to make brighter or to make less heavy. The silent gh, once pronounced as a throaty sound in Middle English, survives only as a spelling fossil and is the chief thing to remember when writing it.

How the word is built

• light (from Old English leoht: bright, or not heavy)
• -en (verb suffix meaning 'to make or become')