▪ I. lighting, vbl. n.1
(ˈlaɪtɪŋ)
[f. light v.1 + -ing1. In OE. l{iacu}hting.]
† 1. Alleviation, relief. Obs.
| c 1000 Laws of Edgar iii. c. 2 (Schmid) Gif þæt riht to hefiᵹ sy, sece siððan þa lihtinge to þam cynge. a 1300 Cursor M. 27066 Þat strength es o gret ligthing, quen man has casten his birthing o sin. c 1460 Play Sacram. 789 Y{supu} haste sent me lyghtyng y{supt} late was lame. 1502 Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W. 1506) v. iii. 385 Nor truste not for euer to haue socours ne lyghtynge. |
2. Descent; dismounting; alighting: also with
down.
| 1350–1425 Cursor M. 13822 (Trin.) Þe aungels liȝtyng [Cott. þe angel lightand; Gött. þe angel lighting (vbl. n., not pple.)] þere bood I. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 6373 Mirabel..made hir ladie forto light. Of that lighting Jewel was woo. c 1470 Henry Wallace ii. 399 Wallace with that, at his lychtin, him drew. 1506 in Paston Lett. III. 405 At the lyghtyng the Kyng of Castylle was of his hors a good space or owr Kyng was a lyght. 1611 Bible Isa. xxx. 30 The Lord shall..shew the lighting downe of his arme. 1615 W. Lawson Country Housew. Garden (1626) 22 To auoid the lighting of Crowes, Pyes, &c. vpon your grafts. 1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. Table Contents, Upon the Mounting, Singing, and Lighting of Larks. 1746 Hervey Medit. (1818) 41 The lighting down of the grasshopper is a burden on the bending shoulders. |
3. attrib., as
lighting-place (used
spec. with reference to bees).
| 1609 C. Butler Fem. Mon. i. A 2 b, If..she [the queen-bee] dislike the weather, or lighting place, they quickly returne home againe. 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Bee. 1759 Brown Compleat Farmer 94 When your swarm hath made choice of a lighting-place. |
▪ II. lighting, vbl. n.2 (
ˈlaɪtɪŋ)
[f. light v.2 + -ing1. In OE. l{iacu}hting.] 1. Illumination.
† In
quot. c 1175
= Dawn.
| c 1000 ælfric Gen. i. 16 God ᵹeworhte..þæt mare leoht to þæs dæᵹes lihtinge. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 45 Ic ham ȝeue reste..from non on saterdei a þa cume monedeis lihting. 1718 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Mr. Thistlethwayte 16 Oct., Paris has the advantage of London, in the neat pavement of the streets, and the regular lighting of them at nights. 1851 Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. 1176 Chemical products, obtained by purifying gas used for lighting. 1874 J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Par. Churches 26 The lighting should be mainly from the clerestory. 1876 Black Madcap V. xlvi. 390 The silver lighting of the restless..sea. |
b. attrib. and
Comb.:
lighting man,
lighting power,
lighting rate,
lighting socket,
lighting wire;
lighting bridge Theatr., a narrow platform, suspended over a stage, on which lights are operated;
lighting cameraman Cinemat. and
Television (see
quot. 1960);
lighting plot Theatr. (see
quot. 1961);
lighting tower Theatr., a tall structure on which lights are fixed.
| 1928 C. H. Ridge Stage Lighting vii. 111 The roof and lighting bridge are all built in reinforced concrete. 1933 P. Godfrey Back-Stage iv. 43 Above the proscenium arch is the lighting bridge, which will accommodate as many as ten electricians with ‘spotting lanterns’. 1967 Punch 16 Aug. 242/3 For Figaro and Verdi's Macbeth at the first [Edinburgh] festival twenty-one years ago, John Christie had to bring in a lighting bridge and sixty floods and perches from Glyndebourne. |
| 1960 O. Skilbeck ABC of Film & TV 78 Lighting Cameraman, chief cameraman of a unit, who is responsible for ordering the illumination which gives pictorial quality to a shot. 1966 Listener 15 Dec. 889/3 The lighting cameraman can earn {pstlg}1,000 a week on a major picture. 1972 A. Fowles Double Feature iv. 67 I'd been Richard Powell, lighting cameraman. 1972 I. Hamilton Thrill Machine vii. 30 For difficult interiors he should have had a lighting man, for interviews he should have had an audio man as well. |
| 1931 C. S. Parsons Amat. Stage Managem. & Production ii. 18 Lighting plots should always be well rehearsed. 1933 P. Godfrey Back-Stage iv. 44 The lighting-plot shows the position of every lamp, the colour of the medium, and the varying intensity of the light required. 1961 Bowman & Ball Theatre Lang. 201 Lighting plot,..a list, with diagrams, showing the lighting to be used in each scene of a production. |
| 1884 F. Krohn tr. Glaser de Cew's Magneto- & Dynamo-Electr. Machines 183 A greater part of its lighting-power is due to the incandescence of the electrodes. 1928 Chambers's Jrnl. Jan. 21/1 An automatic regulator wherewith to make..and supply lighting power to the lamps. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Lighting-rate, a public rate for maintaining the lamps or gas-lights in a parish. 1928 Chambers's Jrnl. Jan. 79/1 All that has to be done to start charging is to insert the charger-plug in the nearest lighting socket. 1935 Discovery Nov. 326/2 A new power-driven spray-painting outfit which..can be run from an ordinary lighting socket. |
| 1933 P. Godfrey Back-Stage iv. 43 In the wings stand a number of lighting towers twelve feet high, each capable of carrying a dozen 1000-watt flood lamps. 1967 R. Courtney Drama Studio ix. 76 At least one Lighting Tower is needed on the floor area. |
| 1889 Daily News 2 Dec. 5/4 A conductor of the fluid from the lighting wire. |
† 2. concr. Lightning.
Obs.| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7763 Tempestes þer come þondringe & liȝtinge ek. a 1300 Fragm. Pop. Sci. (Wright) 146 The liȝting That schut abrod into al the wordle. a 1400 Tokens Doomsday 25 (E.E.T.S. 1878) Oure lord schal come & smyte adoun, as liȝttyng doþ to ground. c 1425 Seven Sag. (P.) 2191 Lyghtyn, thondyr, and rayne. 1618 Bolton Florus i. xvii. (1636) 51 As if volleyes of Lighting, and Thunder had beene discharged from the Clouds of Heaven upon the old earth-borne Gyants. |
3. a. Kindling, ignition. Also with
up (see
light v.
2 2 c).
| 1389 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 35 The sexteyn..ssal han, for lythynge of the lythe, viij{supd}. 1499–1500 in Swayne Sarum Churchw. Acc. (1896) 51 Paid..for lightyng of the Rode light. 1652 Needham Selden's Mare Cl. 124 The lighting of one Candle by another. 1807 Southey Lett. from Eng. I. viii. 89 Between eight and nine the lighting-up began.., every window being filled with candles. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xviii. IV. 223 At the first lighting of the beacons. 1897 Ouida Massarenes ix, Do you mind my lighting up, Pater? |
b. lighting-up time, the time when lights are switched on,
esp. the time when lights on vehicles are required by law to be switched on.
| 1900 J. K. Jerome Three Men on Bummel iii. 55 On sunny afternoons you used to ride about with that lamp shining for all it was worth. When lighting-up time came it was naturally tired, and wanted a rest. 1935 H. G. Wells Things to Come iii. 23 It [sc. a newspaper] should show the customary insets beside the title of the weather forecast and the lighting-up time. 1947 Whitaker's Almanack 150/2 The legal importance of Sunrise and Sunset is that the Road Transport Lighting Act, 1927 defines Lighting-up Time for vehicles as being from one hour after sunset to one hour before sunrise. 1957 Times 11 May 7/1 Lighting-up time, 9.8 p.m. 1963 Times 20 May 3/3 M.C.C., going in with three-quarters of an hour left, lost Atkinson before the umpires decided it was lighting-up time. |
4. The incidence of light upon the features, etc.; the disposition of light in a picture.
| 1861 Sat. Rev. 21 Dec. 648 In a statue by an Italian master, what he notices chiefly are the various effects which various lightings produce upon its features. 1869 Athenæum 18 Dec. 826 As a study in colour and lighting the work is a model. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. III. 142 The colour and lighting of the object to be photographed. |
5. = annealing 3 (Knight
Dict. Mech. 1875).