Dictionary

lightsome en · ADJ · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• līt'səm
• /ˈlaɪtsəm/

Etymology

From Middle English lightsum, equivalent to light (“bright”, adjective) + -some (suffix forming adjectives).

Meanings

1. (literary) Characterised by light; luminous; emitting or manifesting light; radiant.
   • If any find it incredible that Ida be even outwardly so lightsome that she saw clearly in the night, let them answer this question. 2006, Goswin (of Bossut.), Martinus Cawley, Send me God
   • There came a day when he remembered the moment, when he regretted that he had not ridden off into the buoyant midst of these lightsome elements. 1891, Mary Noailles Murfree, In the "Stranger People's" Country, Nebraska, published 2005, page 105:
   • This said, the smoky cloud was cleft and torn, / Which like a veil upon them stretched lay, // And up to open heav'n forthwith was borne, / And left the prince in view of lightsome day. 1600, Edward Fairfax, The Jerusalem Delivered of Tasso, X, xlix
   • The literal sense of the Greek is: “If therefore thy whole body is lightsome, having no part darksome, thy whole body will be lightsome, as when the lamp lightens thee with its flashing.” 2009, David Rooney, The wine of certitude:
   • While in their mothers wombe enclosd they were, / Ere they into the lightsom world were brought, / In fleshly lust were mingled both yfere […] 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

Forms

Antonyms

darksome

Deriveds

lightsomeness · lightsomely

Translations (2)

bg сияен (luminous) · bg светъл (luminous)

lightsome en · ADJ · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• līt'səm
• /ˈlaɪtsəm/

Etymology

From light (“not heavy”, adjective) + -some (suffix forming adjectives). Cognate with Middle High German līhtsam, modern German leichtsam.

Meanings

1. Characterised by lightness of weight, not heavy; nimble, active.
2. Upbeat; cheery; light graceful.
   • When I was of your youth, I was lightsome and quick two years before I was married. 1999, Thomas Middleton, David M. Bevington, Kathleen McLuskie, Plays on women - Page 69:
   • Reality is lightsome, that is, light and graceful.... Moreover, the play, the lightsome character of reality, would be misunderstood if this dimension were to be severed from what really makes a play a play, [...] 1983, Raimon Panikkar, The Vedic experience:

Forms

Deriveds

lightsomeness · lightsomely