▪ I. alight, v.1
(əˈlaɪt)
Forms: 1 al{iacu}ht-an, 2–4 aliȝten, 4 alyȝt-en, 4–5 alight-e(n, 5 alyght(e, 7 alite, 5– alight. pa. tense 1–3 al{iacu}hte, 3–4 aliȝte, 5–6 alight, alyght, 6– alighted, (9 alit). pa. pple. 1–3 aliht, 3–4 aliȝt, alyȝt, 4–5 alight, 5 alyght, 6– alighted, (9 alit).
[OE. al{iacu}htan, f. a- prefix 1 + l{iacu}htan: see light v.1]
I. Referring chiefly to the action: To spring.
1. To spring or jump lightly down from (of obs.) a horse; hence, To dismount from a horse or descend out of a conveyance.
| c 1000 ælfric Gram. xxx. §3. 191 Dissilio, ic of al{iacu}hte. 1250 Layam. 26337 Adun hii gonne alihte of hire gode stedes. c 1300 Beket 1854 Of his palefrai he aliȝte adoun. c 1450 Lonelich Grail lii. 585 Down he alyhte of his rownsy. Ibid. xxv. 151 He ne dorste..owt of his sadil alyhte. 1475 Caxton Jason 10 b, Peleus and Jason were alighted from their hors. 1530 Palsgr. 420/2, I alight downe of a horse. 1578 T. N. tr. Conq. W. India 321 And he alyghting from his horse. a 1674 Clarendon Hist. Reb. III. xiv. 404 His Majesty alighted out of his Coach. 1699 Dryden Flower & Leaf 304 The victors from their lofty steeds alight. 1857 Dickens Lett. (1880) II. 31 Station-masters assist him to alight from carriages. 1863 A. Jameson Leg. Monast. Ord. 36 The emperor has just alighted from his charger. |
† 2. To spring lightly, to vault on or upon, to mount. Obs.
| c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 2938 And wan Ro[land] was on his [stede] alyȝt{revsc} to is felawes þanne a sede. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xxxiii. vi, I alyght anone upon my gentyll stede. |
† 3. To spring forth. Obs.
| c 1450 Lonelich Grail II. 156 From that there cam a roser ful stronge..As on tre owt of anothir scholde alyht. |
II. Referring chiefly to the result: To land.
4. a. To get down from a horse or conveyance; to dismount or descend for the time; to finish one's ride, stop.
| 1205 Layam. 26618 Heo letten alle þa horsmen i þan wude alihten. a 1300 Floriz & Bl. 21 At þe selue huse hi buþ aliȝt Þat blauncheflur was þat oþer niȝt. c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 925 Abouten undern gan this erl alight. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxliv. 300 They come rydyng thurgh the Cyte of london vnto seynt poules and ther they alyght. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres iv i. 101 That if occasion be offered, euery mounted souldier may alight. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. ii. ix. 87 Madam, there is a-lighted at your gate, A yong Venetian. 1659 in Rushworth Hist. Coll. I. 77 Being alighted at the Palace-gate. 1678 Yng. Mans Call. 364 She was fain to alite under a hedge, and there to trim her self as well as she could. 1742 Richardson Pamela III. 351 We alighted, and walked a little way. 1824 Dibdin Libr. Comp. 224 He happens to alight at an inn. 1872 Jenkinson Eng. Lakes (1879) 200 On alighting at the Threlkeld station cross the line. |
† b. To stop in a course or journey, to arrive. Obs. rare.
| 1596 Spenser F.Q. i. xii. 25 Fast before the king he did alight. |
† 5. gen. To go or come down, to descend. Obs.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 79 Þes Mon þhet a lihte from ierusalem in to ierico. c 1230 Ancr. R. 248 God Almihti..alihte adun to helle. c 1260 Signs bef. Judgem. in E.E.P. (1862) 7 Þe grace of ihsu..mote a mang vs nuþe aliȝte. c 1320 Cast. Love 653 He..That from hevyn to erthe alyȝht. a 1420 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1141 Right as she made me clymbe on hight..so she may make me alight. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour g viij b, As soone as she was a lyght out of her child bedde. |
6. To descend and settle, to land on one's feet anywhere (and so contrasted with falling); hence, to land on a spot by floating, flying, or falling lightly, as a bird from the wing, a snow-flake, etc. Also of an aircraft: to land.
| 1297 R. Glouc. 433 After þat our Lorde was in hys moder alyȝt. c 1314 Guy Warw. 270 Opon Sir Gy, that gentil knight, Ywis, mi love is alle alight. c 1320 Cast. Love 1291 Þulke God alle þing dihte Þat in þe swete Mayden alihte. c 1450 Lonelich Grail xii. 208 Goddis sone of hevene, That into þe maide alyhte. 1596 Spenser F.Q. i. iii. 20 The heavie hap, which on them is alight. 1786 J. Jeffries Narr. 2 Aerial Voyages 16 After alighting for a moment..M. Blanchard threw out the remaining part of our sand ballast. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague ii. ii. 192 A wondrous bird That ne'er alights to fold her wings. 1818 Byron Mazeppa xviii, I saw his wing through twilight flit, And once so near me he alit. a 1849 Poe Angel of Odd Wks. 1864 IV. 308, I alit upon my feet. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. §18. 124 A grey cloud alighted on the shoulder of the Lyskamm. 1958 Times 17 Oct. 3/4 To see and feel the aircraft obeying the dictates of unseen devices..as we were about to alight along the centre⁓line of the runway. |
7. To fall (on or upon) as a blow, or projectile, to descend and strike. arch.
| c 1300 in Wright Pop. Sc. 136 No wonder þeȝ hit smite harde þer hit doþ aliȝte. a 1700 Dryden (J.), Storms of stones..Pour down and on our batter'd helms alight. 1824 J. H. Wiffen Tasso's Jerus. Deliv. xi. xxxv, A huge round rock..upon his crown Alit, and rudely beat the' heroic soldier down. |
8. To land, fall, or come upon anything without design; to light upon. Chiefly const. on.
| 1858 Froude Hist. Eng. IV. 549 By good fortune..I alighted on a collection of MSS. in the State Paper Office. 1925 F. Scott Fitzgerald Great Gatsby vii. 148, I realized that so far his suspicions hadn't alighted on Tom. 1961 S. Gillespie Neighbour vi. 93 Her flat was pretty much what he had expected; the apartment of a rich woman of taste, and his eye immediately alighted on a Degas. 1984 Financial Times i. 19/4, I believe you may already have alighted upon the reason for some of the scepticism shown towards business graduates mentioned in ‘Business Schools under Siege’. |
▪ II. † aˈlight, v.2 Obs.
[? f. a- prefix 1 + light v.2, OE. l{iacu}htan; or light a. But cf. OE. ᵹel{iacu}htan, which may be the actual source; see a- prefix 6.]
To make light, or less heavy; to lighten, alleviate (a burden); to relieve (the bearer).
| [c 885 K. ælfred Past. Care 159 Ðonne hie willað him selfum ðæt yfel..ᵹelihtan. a 1000 Laws Penit. 19 (Thorpe II. 286) Mid xxx mæssan man mæᵹ ᵹel{iacu}htan xii monða festen. c 1230 Ancr. R. 356 Þet ich beo ilihted of hore heuinesse.] 1388 Wyclif Is. ix. 1 The lond of Zabulon..was aliȝted ether releessid. 1393 Gower Conf. II. 278, I might Some of my grete peine alight. c 1449 Pecock Repr. v. xiii. 550 For this..cause of aliȝting poor men. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour d vij b, She wende to alyght her euylle and her synne. |
▪ III. † aˈlight, v.3 Obs.
Forms: 1 aléoht-an, al{yacu}ht-an, al{iacu}htan, 2–3 aliht-en, alyht-en, 4 aliȝt-en, alyȝt-en, 4–7 alight(e, (7 adlight). pa. tense 1–3 al{iacu}hte, etc., 3–4 aliȝte, 4–5 alight, 6–7 alighted. pa. pple. 1 alihted, 2 aliht, 4–6 alight, 6–7 alighted.
[Probably the two OE. verbs a-l{iacu}htan (? with a- prefix 1; cf. OHG. arliuhtan, mod.G. erleuchten) and on-l{iacu}htan (see a- prefix 2), both ‘to shine upon, light up,’ are here represented, if indeed the solitary OE. instance of al{iacu}htan be not merely a later form of onl{iacu}htan.]
1. To light, light up, illumine.
| c 1000 Ags. Metr. Ps. cxxxviii. (-ix.) 10 Þu þá onl{iacu}htest niht, þæt heó byð dæᵹe ᵹel{iacu}c. c 1000 ælfric Gen. i. 15 And hiᵹ..alihton þa eorþan. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 185 Þu..hauest aliht mi þester heorte. 1340 Ayenb. 109 Þet þe holy gost ous wille alyȝte þe herte. 1393 Gower Conf. II. 183 A fiery piller hem alight. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 550 To goe about with a tallow candle to helpe or adlight the sunne at his rising. 1634 Malory's Arthur (1816) II. 216 They were alighted of the grace of the Holy Ghost. |
2. To set light to, to light (a fire, etc.).
| 1340 Ayenb. 66 Huanne me alyȝt þet uer. c 1400 Lay le Freine 199 Anon fer sche alight, And warmed it wele aplight. 1590 Eng. Rom. Life in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) II. 183 When the schollers come they alight their lamps. 1620 Shelton Quix. (R.) Having..alighted his lamp. |
▪ IV. alight, a.
(əˈlaɪt)
[app. orig. pa. pple. of alight v.3 (under which see quot. dated 1175); but placed by form-assoc. in the same series with a-fire, a-blaze, a-sleep, a-live, i.e. on fire, in a blaze, etc. and so now used only predicatively, whereas it was formerly attrib. also.]
1. Lighted, kindled, in a flame; on fire. Also fig.
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. v. 208 A brason vessel..Alight atte nyght. 1675 T. Brooks Gold. Key Wks. 1867 V. 242 To see all the world on a-light fire about them. 1743 Bolingbroke Rem. Hist. Eng. Pref., A Beacon to be kept continually alight. 1860 Hawthorne Marble Farm (1879) I. xx. 202 To set alight the devotion of the worshippers. 1863 Sala Capt. Dang. III. v. 156 She was alight, and ran about the scene, screaming piteously. 1876 Mrs. Whitney Sights & Ins. iii. 18 The girls, of course, were all alight about it. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 82 The number of gas-burners, lamps, or candles alight. 1882 R. Stevenson New Arab. N. II. 90 The whole pavilion..had gone alight like a box of matches. |
2. Lighted up, illumined. Also fig.
| 1842 Mrs. Browning Grk. Chr. Poets 62 Some marbles are like new dropt snow, and some Alight with blackness. 1861 Thackeray Four Georges iii. (1862) 169 The chapel was scarcely alight. 1881 Shorthouse J. Inglesant II. i. 6 All alight with the morning sun. |
▪ V. † aˈlight, ppl. a. Obs.
[pa. pple. of alight v.1]
Alighted, dismounted, arrived.
| c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 722 Whan we were in that hostelrie alyght. ? 1469 Gregory Hist. Coll. (1876) 188 Anon as he was a lyght of hys hors, he was arestyde. 1626 Shirley Maid's Rev. ii. i, A pretty, handsome stripling new alight. |