The adjective 'light' (not heavy) descends from Old English 'lēoht' and PIE *h₁lengʷh- (light in weight, agile), entirely unrelated to 'light' the brightness — the same ancient root produced Latin 'levis,' giving English 'levity,' 'elevate,' and even 'carnival.'
Of little weight; not heavy; easy to lift or carry; lacking in force, density, or seriousness.
From Old English 'lēoht' (not heavy), from Proto-Germanic *linhtaz, from PIE *h₁lengʷh- meaning 'light in weight, agile, nimble.' This is etymologically unrelated to 'light' (brightness), which comes from PIE *lewk- (to shine). The two words converged to identical spelling and near-identical pronunciation through separate sound changes in English — a coincidence that confuses learners but delighted poets, who could pun on both senses. Key roots: *h₁lengʷh- (Proto-Indo-European: "light in weight, agile,
Latin 'levis' (light in weight) comes from the same PIE root and produced 'levity,' 'lever,' 'elevate,' 'alleviate,' and 'carnival' (from 'carnem levāre,' to remove meat — the feasting before Lent). Meanwhile, 'light' the brightness word gave us 'luminous,' 'lunar,' and 'lucid' — two completely separate PIE roots that just happen to share the English spelling 'light.'
Words closest in meaning, ranked by similarity