Etymograph

English

lightful

Lightful comes from Middle English light ‘the radiation which allows for vision by…’, from Old English lēoht ‘light, daylight’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewk-‘light’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewktomreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*leuhtą‘light’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*leuht‘light’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150lēoht‘light, daylight’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lightas liht‘the radiation which allows for vision by brightening objects and colours’
  7. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500lightful
  8. Englishearliest quotation a. 1599same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewk-‘light’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewktomreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*leuhtą‘light’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*leuht‘light’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150lēoht‘light, daylight’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lightas liht‘the radiation which allows for vision by brightening objects and colours’
  7. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500lightful
  8. Englishearliest quotation a. 1599same form

Earliest quotation: a. 1599, Mary Sidney, Psalm LVIII: “formlesse eyes doe faile / To see the sun,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *lewk- ‘light’

low, los, link, lucy, ounce, lunar, luna, lea, illumination, lux, illuminate, lucid, luminous, translucent, twilight, lumen, lynx, luce, luminosity, lumia, lum, lune, loach, leucine, luminescent, luminary, luminal, 74 more

Today it means

adj Full of light; bright.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *lewk- / lightful

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