lighter
English
editPronunciation
edit- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈlaɪtɚ/, [ˈlaɪɾɚ]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈlaɪtə/
Audio (General American): (file) Audio (US): (file) Audio (Received Pronunciation): (file) - Rhymes: -aɪtə(ɹ)
- Hyphenation: light‧er
Etymology 1
edit
From light (“to ignite”) + -er. Cognate with Middle Dutch lichtere, lichter (“one who spreads light, illuminator”), Dutch lichter, luchter (“candle-holder, chandelier”). Compare also Middle English lightnere, liȝtnere (“one who enlightens or illuminates”).
Noun
editlighter (plural lighters)
- A person who lights things.
- a lighter of lamps
- A device used to light things, especially a reusable handheld device for creating fire to light cigarettes.
- Synonym: (dated) briquet
- Cigarette in mouth, he clutched his pockets in search of a lighter.
Hyponyms
editDerived terms
editDescendants
editTranslations
editfire-making device
|
Etymology 2
editFrom Middle English lightere, lyghtere, equivalent to light (“to unload, lighten”) + -er. Compare West Frisian lichter (“lighter ship”), Dutch lichter (“lighter ship”), Middle Low German lichter, lüchter, lüchtære (“a small ship that lightens a load, lighter ship”).
Noun
editlighter (plural lighters)
- A flat-bottomed boat for carrying heavy loads across short distances (especially for canals or for loading or unloading larger boats).
- 1945 January and February, T. F. Cameron, “Dock Working”, in Railway Magazine, page 9:
- It is, of course, possible to work only to or from lighters in this way, and such working is not very general in this country, although a certain amount of such overside work is carried on in enclosed docks.
Translations
edita barge
|
See also
editVerb
editlighter (third-person singular simple present lighters, present participle lightering, simple past and past participle lightered)
- To transfer (cargo or passengers) to or from a ship by means of a lighter or other small vessel.
- Hypernym: lighten
- 1900. Report of the Commission Appointed by the President to Investigate the Conduct of the War Department in the War with Spain. Vol. 7, pg. 3227.
- Troops and stores were lightered to the wharves inside the harbor by steamers Orizaba and Berkshire.
- 1960 April, H. P. White, “The Railways of Sierra Leone”, in Railway Magazine, page 233:
- Beyond the station an extension descends at 1 in 30, the steepest gradient on the line, to Government Wharf, where cargo is lightered to and from ships at anchor in the harbour.
- To transfer cargo or fuel from (a ship), lightening it to make its draft less or to make it easier to refloat.
- Hypernym: lighten
Etymology 3
editEtymology tree
From light (“pale”) + -er (“comparative”).
Adjective
editlighter
- comparative form of light: more light
- I prefer a lighter shade of pink.
Etymology 4
editEtymology tree
From light (“not heavy, weak”) + -er (“comparative”).
Adjective
editlighter
- comparative form of light: more light
- What happened? You look 10 lbs. lighter!
- I wish I'd thrown a lighter punch; he's out cold.
- 1955 April, W. J. Alcock, “Unforgettable Moments”, in Railway Magazine, page 271:
- The way the glare from our engine firehole pulsated, reflecting continuously in the steam, combined with our achievement in keeping level with the lighter train until our metals parted at Wilton, provided another lasting memory.
- 1964 May, “News and Comment: WR's new parcel traffic method”, in Modern Railways, page 300:
- It is lighter to handle and more manoeuvrable, and its three caged sides with web straps on the fourth prevent movement of the contents.
- 2021 May 19, David Clough, “Swiss precision meets UK growth”, in RAIL, number 931, page 57:
- For example, lightweight construction and Jacobs bogies save weight, and a lighter train uses less power.
Anagrams
editSpanish
editEtymology
editUnadapted borrowing from English lighter.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editlighter m (plural lighters or lighteres)
- (Panama, US, Puerto Rico, Philippines) lighter
- Synonyms: encendedor, mechero
Usage notes
edit- According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.
Further reading
edit- “lighter”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010
Categories:
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/aɪtə(ɹ)
- Rhymes:English/aɪtə(ɹ)/2 syllables
- English terms suffixed with -er (agent noun)
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms with quotations
- English verbs
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *lewk-
- English terms suffixed with -er
- English non-lemma forms
- English comparative adjectives
- en:Smoking
- en:Tools
- en:Watercraft
- en:Fire
- Spanish terms borrowed from English
- Spanish unadapted borrowings from English
- Spanish terms derived from English
- Spanish 2-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Spanish/aiteɾ
- Rhymes:Spanish/aiteɾ/2 syllables
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish nouns
- Spanish countable nouns
- Spanish nouns with multiple plurals
- Spanish masculine nouns
- Panamanian Spanish
- United States Spanish
- Puerto Rican Spanish
- Philippine Spanish