Starlight
nounThe light given off by the stars in the night sky.
How to spell starlight
9 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce starlight
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does starlight mean?
- nounThe light given off by the stars in the night sky.
Starlight in a sentence
-
The campers found their way back to the tent by starlight alone.
-
The lake shimmered under the soft starlight on a clear, moonless night.
Where does starlight come from?
Language of origin: Germanic
This is a native English compound, formed by joining 'star' and 'light', both of which descend from Old English. 'Star' comes from Old English 'steorra', which traces back to the Proto-Germanic 'sterna' and shares an ancient root with Latin 'stella' and Greek 'aster', all meaning the same bright point in the night sky. 'Light' comes from Old English 'leoht', meaning brightness or illumination, from a Proto-Germanic root linked to Latin 'lux'. The two words were already being paired in writing by the medieval period to describe the faint glow cast by stars, and the closed compound 'starlight' settled into common use centuries ago. Because both halves are familiar everyday words, the spelling is transparent: there is no silent letter or trick beyond remembering it is written as a single unhyphenated word.
How the word is built
- star (a luminous celestial body)
- light (illumination, radiance)
Fix your spelling for good.
Spelling Garden finds the words you personally get wrong, plants them in a garden, and brings each one back just before you would have forgotten it.
Just five minutes a day is all it takes to fix your spelling.