# alight

> English word · Verb · IPA /əˈlaɪt/ · frequency rank #28,812

## Definitions
1. To make less heavy; to lighten; to alleviate, to relieve.
2. Often followed by from or off: to get off an animal which one has been riding; to dismount; to descend or exit from a vehicle; hence, to complete one's journey; to stop.
3. Often followed by at, on, or upon: of something aloft: to descend and settle; to land, to lodge, to rest.
4. To come down or go down; to descend.
5. Often followed by on or upon: of a blow, something thrown, etc.: to land heavily.
6. Often followed by on or upon: to find by accident; to chance upon, to come upon.
7. To arrive.

## Etymology
From Middle English alighten (“to descend from a place: to dismount, get off; to descend to a place: to arrive or stop (at a place); to land; to drop; to attack; of lightning: to strike; to leap on to, mount; to descend in rank; to cause (someone) to lose rank; to come forth, spring from; to alleviate, relieve; (Christianity) of Jesus: to come down to earth from heaven, become incarnate; to descend (to hell); of the Holy Spirit, angels, miracles, etc.: to descend (from heaven); to descend (upon someone); to appear in a place”) [and other forms], from a merger of:
* Old English ālīhtan (“to alight, dismount”), from ā- (prefix meaning ‘away, from, off, out’) + līhtan, līehtan (“to descend, alight, light; to make easy or light, alleviate, lighten, relieve”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ- (“not heavy, light”); and
* Old English ġelīhtan (“to descend; to come down, dismount; to make easy or light, alleviate, lighten, relieve”), from ġe- (intensifying prefix, attached to verbs to indicate completeness or perfection) + līhtan, līehtan (see above).
The English word is analyzable as a- (prefix meaning ‘away, from, off, out’) + light (“to ease, lighten; to take off; to unload; to dismount; (archaic) to come down, land; to dismount”).
Cognates
* Middle Low German erlichten (“to lighten”)
* Old High German gilīhten (“to make less heavy, lighten”) (Middle High German gelīhten); Old High German irlīhten (“to alleviate”) (Middle High German erlīhten, modern German erleichten)

## Easily confused with
- **align** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alight-vs-align)
- **Alisha** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alight-vs-alisha)
- **alright** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alight-vs-alright)
- **almighty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alight-vs-almighty)
- **alrighty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alight-vs-alrighty)
- **aight** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/aight-vs-alight)
- **Albright** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/albright-vs-alight)

## Common misspellings (9)
`ailght`, `algiht`, `aligght`, `alighht`, `alightt`, `aligth`, `alihgt`, `allight`, `laight`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/alight