Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗To make less heavy; to lighten; to alleviate, to relieve. · 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. · Often followed by at, on, or upon: of something aloft: to descend and settle; to land, to lodge, to rest. · To come down or go down; to descend.
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)
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentionalightenenm · 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
- Inherited-form mentionālīhtanang · to alight, dismount
- Inherited-form mention*h₁lengʷʰ-ine-pro · not heavy, light
- Inherited-form mentionġelīhtanang · to descend; to come down, dismount; to make easy or light, alleviate, lighten, relieve
- Cognate mentionerlichtengml · to lighten
- Cognate mentiongilīhtengoh · to make less heavy, lighten
- Cognate mentiongelīhtengmh
- Cognate mentionirlīhtengoh · to alleviate
- Cognate mentionerlīhtengmh
- Cognate mentionerleichtende
This page abbreviates 3 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "alighten",
"t": "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"
},
"expansion": "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”)"
},
{
"name": "nb...",
"args": {
"1": "aliȝt, aliȝte, aliȝth, alight, alighte, aliht, alihte, allight, allighten, alliȝt, allyght, allyhte, alyȝt, alyȝte, alyght, alyghte, alyht, alyhte",
"otherforms": "1"
},
"expansion": "[and other forms]"
},
{
"name": "sup",
"args": {
"1": "1"
},
"expansion": "¹"
},
{
"name": "sup",
"args": {
"1": "1"
},
"expansion": "¹"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "ālīhtan",
"t": "to alight, dismount"
},
"expansion": "Old English ālīhtan (“to alight, dismount”)"
},
{
"name": "glossary",
"args": {
"1": "prefix"
},
"expansion": "prefix"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*h₁lengʷʰ-",
"t": "not heavy, light"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ- (“not heavy, light”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "ġelīhtan",
"t": "to descend; to come down, dismount; to make easy or light, alleviate, lighten, relieve"
},
"expansion": "Old English ġelīhtan (“to descend; to come down, dismount; to make easy or light, alleviate, lighten, relieve”)"
},
{
"name": "glossary",
"args": {
"1": "intensifier",
"2": "intensifying"
},
"expansion": "intensifying"
},
{
"name": "glossary",
"args": {
"1": "verb"
},
"expansion": "verb"
},
{
"name": "prefix",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "a",
"3": "light",
"pos1": "prefix meaning ‘away, from, off, out’",
"t2": "to ease, lighten; to take off; to unload; to dismount; (archaic) to come down, land; to dismount"
},
"expansion": "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”)"
},
{
"name": "col-top",
"args": {
"1": "2",
"2": "cog"
},
"expansion": "Cognates"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "gml",
"2": "erlichten",
"t": "to lighten"
},
"expansion": "Middle Low German erlichten (“to lighten”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "goh",
"2": "gilīhten",
"t": "to make less heavy, lighten"
},
"expansion": "Old High German gilīhten (“to make less heavy, lighten”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "gmh",
"2": "gelīhten"
},
"expansion": "Middle High German gelīhten"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "goh",
"2": "irlīhten",
"t": "to alleviate"
},
"expansion": "Old High German irlīhten (“to alleviate”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "gmh",
"2": "erlīhten"
},
"expansion": "Middle High German erlīhten"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "erleichten"
},
"expansion": "German erleichten"
}
],
"links": [
[
"alighten",
"alighten#Middle_English"
],
[
"ālīhtan",
"alihtan#Old_English"
],
[
"ā-",
"a-#Old_English"
],
[
"līhtan",
"lihtan#Old_English"
],
[
"līehtan",
"liehtan#Old_English"
],
[
"*h₁lengʷʰ-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₁lengʷʰ-"
],
[
"ġelīhtan",
"gelihtan#Old_English"
],
[
"ġe-",
"ge-#Old_English"
],
[
"līhtan",
"lihtan#Old_English"
],
[
"līehtan",
"liehtan#Old_English"
],
[
"a-",
"a-#English"
],
[
"light",
"light#English"
],
[
"erlichten",
"erlichten#Middle_Low_German"
],
[
"gilīhten",
"gilihten#Old_High_German"
],
[
"gelīhten",
"gelihten#Middle_High_German"
],
[
"irlīhten",
"irlihten#Old_High_German"
],
[
"erlīhten",
"erlihten#Middle_High_German"
],
[
"erleichten",
"erleichten#German"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To make less heavy; to lighten; to alleviate, to relieve.",
"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.",
"Often followed by at, on, or upon: of something aloft: to descend and settle; to land, to lodge, to rest.",
"To come down or go down; to descend."
],
"tags": [
"also",
"figuratively",
"obsolete",
"transitive",
"intransitive",
"archaic"
],
"recordId": "5546e5da69297b7cb18984cc49b4a4a82c8fe0b1d2227acd28f5cd6158c86286",
"rawRecordSha256": "7bbd06840f0abe776f6e84ed638732f73e027a32ad62a7cb3c99f5fcdf06fb90",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 174420
}
],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
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"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 3,
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}
}