lighter

== English == === Pronunciation === (General American) IPA(key): /ˈlaɪtɚ/, [ˈlaɪɾɚ] (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈlaɪtə/ (Standard Southern British) IPA(key): /ˈlɑjtə/ (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA(key): /ˈlɑetə/ (Scotland) IPA(key): /ˈlʌɪtəɾ/ Rhymes: -aɪtə(ɹ) Hyphenation: light‧er === Etymology 1 === 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 ==== lighter (plural lighters) A person who lights things. A device used to light things, especially a reusable handheld device for creating fire to light cigarettes. Synonym: (dated) briquet ===== Hyponyms ===== ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Descendants ===== ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === From 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 ==== lighter (plural lighters) A flat-bottomed boat for carrying heavy loads across short distances (especially for canals or for loading or unloading larger boats). ===== Translations ===== ===== See also ===== ==== Verb ==== lighter (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. 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 === From light (“pale”) + -er (“comparative”). ==== Adjective ==== lighter comparative form of light: more light === Etymology 4 === From light (“not heavy, weak”) + -er (“comparative”). ==== Adjective ==== lighter comparative form of light: more light === Anagrams === relight == Spanish == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from English lighter. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈlaiteɾ/ [ˈlai̯.t̪eɾ] Rhymes: -aiteɾ Syllabification: ligh‧ter === Noun === lighter m (plural lighters or lighteres) (Panama, US, Puerto Rico, Philippines) lighter Synonyms: encendedor, mechero ==== Usage notes ==== 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 === “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