daylight
day·light/ˈdeɪˌlaɪt/noun, verb
daylight is spelled D-A-Y-L-I-G-H-T: 8 letters and 2 syllables (day·light). It appears 6.9 times per million words in written English, the 9,045th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, daylight means “The natural light that is ambient in daytime, being mostly sunlight (both direct and indirect, on either sunny days or cloudy days)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of daylight is daylights.
How many letters and syllables are in daylight?
| Letters | 8: D-A-Y-L-I-G-H-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: day·light |
| In writing | 6.9 times per million words; the 9,045th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is daylight?
Daylight appears 6.9 times per million words in written English, the 9,045th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce daylight?
- UK /ˈdeɪlaɪt/
- US /ˈdeɪˌlaɪt/
Daylight has 2 syllables, split day·light in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-daylight.ogg, En-au-daylight.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with daylight
Also written: day-light (one word or two).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of daylight
- daylights plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- day-light
- daylighting participle, present
- daylighted participle, past
- daylit participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does daylight mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The natural light that is ambient in daytime, being mostly sunlight (both direct and indirect, on either sunny days or cloudy days).
Meronym: sunbeams
- 2
A light source that simulates daylight.
- 3
The intensity distribution of light over the visible spectrum generated by the Sun under various conditions or by other light sources intended to simulate natural daylight.
- 4
The period of time between sunrise and sunset.
burning daylight
- 5
Daybreak.
We had only two hours to work before daylight.
- 6
Exposure to public scrutiny.
Budgeting a spy organization can't very well be done in daylight.
- 7
A clear, open space.
All small running backs instinctively run to daylight.
- 8
The space between platens on a press or similar machinery.
The minimum and maximum daylights on an injection molding machine determines the sizes of the items it can make.
verb
- 1
To expose to daylight
- 2
To provide sources of natural illumination such as skylights or windows.
- 3
To allow light in, as by opening drapes.
- 4
To run a drainage pipe to an opening from which its contents can drain away naturally.
- 5
To gain exposure to the open.
The seam of coal daylighted at a cliff by the river.
- 6
To moonlight (work a second, often illicit job) during the daytime.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Daylight in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | jour, lumière du jour |
| German | Tageslicht , Tag |
| Portuguese | luz do dia/sol , dia |
| Spanish | luz diurna , día , claro |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does daylight come from?
From Middle English daye-lighte, dey liȝht, dailiȝt, day-liht, dai-liht (also as days lyȝt, daies liht), equivalent to day + light. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Deegeslucht, Daisljoacht (“daylight”), West Frisian deiljocht (“daylight”), Dutch daglicht (“daylight”), German Tageslicht (“daylight”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).