Dictionary

lightfast en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈlaɪtfæst/ (US)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From light + fast. Compare Icelandic litfast (“colourfast”).

Meanings

1. Resistant to fading.
   • The blue, or cyan, is the most lightfast ink used in the printing process, so it lasts the longest. That blue, incidentally, is the phthalocyanine blue pigment. You can easily test to determine whether any material is lightfast. 2010, Sherry Stone Clifton, Anita Marie Giddings, Pastels For Dummies, unnumbered page:
   • Tara, a gallotannin, is often quoted as being the most lightfast vegetable tannin and makes very pale coloured leather. 2009, Anthony Covington, Tony Covington, Tanning Chemistry: The Science of Leather, page 286:
   • Verdigris is lightfast in oil paint, as numerous examples of fifteenth-century paintings show.
   • Some ink-and-paper combinations are more lightfast than others, and the resulting prints are more fade-resistant. 2004, Peter K. Burian, Masteringdigital Photography and Imaging, page 75:

Forms

Deriveds

lightfastness

Hypernyms

sunfast

Synonyms

unfadeable (resistant to fading) · nonfading (resistant to fading) · colorfast (resistant to fading)

Translations (7)

de lichtecht (resistant to fading) · vi bền (resistant to fading) · es no desteñible (resistant to fading) · fi valonkestävä (resistant to fading) · ru светостойкий (resistant to fading) · uk світлостійки́й (resistant to fading) · ru светопрочный (resistant to fading)