Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

lightspeed en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Etymology

From light + speed.

Meanings

  1. (countable, uncountable) The speed of light (in vacuum unless another medium is specified).
    • He paused, then finished, “with the drive from the Linz, he can do over 500 lightspeeds to meet us. 2005, W. Strawn Douglas, Oracle And Other Stories, page 134:
    • If we're going to a world a hundred light-years from here at near lightspeed, we spend according to our own perceptions, only a few minutes doing so and arrive only a few minutes older. 1994, Ursula K. Le Guin, A Fisherman of the Inland Sea, Victor Gollancz (UK), published 1996, →ISBN, page 7:
  2. (colloquial, countable, figuratively, uncountable) An extremely fast speed.
    • In recent years, other activist terms have followed light-speed trajectories. The term “Latinx” overtook academic institutions and briefly became fashionable in the media, still prevalent in some influential publications, like The New Yorker, even though only 3 percent of Hispanics (or Latinos, if you prefer) use it. 2022 October 23, Pamela Paul, “Let’s Say Gay”, in The New York Times:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
lightspeeds Number=Plur lexicographic
light speed alternative lexicographic

Deriveds

lightspeed lag

Synonyms

speed of light · speed of light

Translations (33)

ar سُرْعَةْ اَلضَّوْء (the speed of light) · hu fénysebesség (the speed of light) · pt velocidade da luz (the speed of light) · sv ljushastighet (the speed of light) · ru ско́рость све́та (the speed of light) · ro viteza luminii (the speed of light) · da lysets hastighed (the speed of light) · ja 光速 (the speed of light) · el ταχύτητα του φωτός (the speed of light) · it velocità della luce (the speed of light) · fi valonnopeus (the speed of light) · fr vitesse de la lumière (the speed of light) · tr ışık hızı (the speed of light) · bg ско́рост на светлина́та (the speed of light) · th ความเร็วแสง (the speed of light) · et valguse kiirus (the speed of light) · br tizh al luc'h (the speed of light) · nl snelheid van het licht (the speed of light) · cmn 光速 (the speed of light) · fa سرعت نور (the speed of light) · vi tốc độ ánh sáng (the speed of light) · eo lumrapido (the speed of light) · sq shpejtësia e dritës (the speed of light) · lt šviesos greitis (the speed of light) · es velocidad lumínica (the speed of light) · lv gaismas ātrums (the speed of light) · es velocidad de la luz (the speed of light) · is ljóshraði (the speed of light) · mk брзина на светлината (the speed of light) · pl prędkość światła (the speed of light) · la velocitas luminis (the speed of light) · ko 광속 (the speed of light) · de Lichtgeschwindigkeit (the speed of light)

wikidata: Q2111