light
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
5 characters
Language
English
word origin
Source
Wiktionary
open dictionary
Access
Free
no sign-up needed
Detailed reference entry for the English word "light", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "light" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "light" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
light is aEnglishnoun. It means: Electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range visible to the human eye (about 400–750 nanometers): visible light. Pronounced /laɪt/. It ranks #467 in English word frequency. Often confused with lit and list.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | light |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /laɪt/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #467 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 16 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for light is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /laɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #467 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 20 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 8 documented wrong-spelling variants for light, with forms such as "ilght", "lgiht", and "ligght". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 16 confusable-pair relationships, "lit", "list", "lint", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *lewk-der. Proto-Germanic *leuhtaz Proto-West Germanic *leuht Old English lēoht Middle English light English light From Middle English light, liht, leoht, from Old English lēoht, from Proto-West Germanic *leuht, from Proto… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is light, spelled L-I-G-H-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1Electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range visible to the human eye (about 400–750 nanometers): visible light.
- 2Electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range visible to the human eye or in nearby ranges (infrared or ultraviolet radiation).
- 3Electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength.
- 4A source of illumination.
- 5A source of illumination.
- 6A source of illumination.
- 7Spiritual or mental illumination; enlightenment, useful information.
- 8Facts; pieces of information; ideas, concepts.
- 9A notable person within a specific field or discipline.
- 10The manner in which the light strikes a picture; that part of a picture which represents those objects upon which the light is supposed to fall; the more illuminated part of a landscape or other scene; opposed to shade.
- 11A point of view, or aspect from which a concept, person or thing is regarded.
- 12A flame or something used to create fire.
- 13A flame or something used to create fire.
- 14A firework made by filling a case with a substance which burns brilliantly with a white or coloured flame.
- 15A window in architecture, carriage design, or motor car design: either the opening itself or the window pane of glass that fills it, if any.
- 16The series of squares reserved for the answer to a crossword clue.
- 17A cross-light in a double acrostic or triple acrostic.
- 18Open view; a visible state or condition; public observation; publicity.
- 19The power of perception by vision: eyesight (sightedness; vision).
- 20The brightness of the eye or eyes.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *lewk-der. Proto-Germanic *leuhtaz Proto-West Germanic *leuht Old English lēoht Middle English light English light From Middle English light, liht, leoht, from Old English lēoht, from Proto-West Germanic *leuht, from Proto-Germanic *leuhtą, from Proto-Indo-European *lewktom, from the root *lewk- (“to shine”). Cognates * Scots licht (“light”) * Saterland Frisian Ljoacht, Lucht (“light”) * West Frisian ljocht (“light”) * Dutch licht (“light”) * German Licht (“light”) * German Low German Licht (“light”) * Limburgish Leech, Leet, Léït (“light”) * Luxembourgish Liicht (“light”) * Vilamovian łicht (“light”) * Yiddish ליכט (likht, “light”) * Danish, Norwegian Bokmål lys (“light”) * Elfdalian liuos (“light”) * Faroese, Icelandic ljós (“light”) * Norwegian Nynorsk ljos, ljus, lys (“light”) * Swedish ljus (“light”) * Latin lūx (“light”) * Russian луч (luč, “beam of light”) * Armenian լույս (luys, “light”) * Ancient Greek λευκός (leukós, “white”) * Persian رُخش (roxš).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ilght,lgiht,ligght,lighht,lightt,ligth,lihgt,llight
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for light
Misspelling Variants of "light"
Frequency rank: #467 in English
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "light"?
What does "light" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "light"?
How do you pronounce "light"?
What is the origin of the word "light"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter L in our English index: