lighting

light·ing
L1I1G2H4T1I1N1G2
UK/ˈlaɪtɪŋ/US[-ɾɪŋ]

noun

The equipment used to provide illumination; the illumination so provided.

Very commonScrabble 13

Meanings

nounlighting (countable and uncountable, plural lightings)

plural lightings

  1. countableuncountableThe equipment used to provide illumination; the illumination so provided.

    The acetylene gas lighting in the station offices and platforms at Kyle of Lochalsh recently has been replaced by electric lighting.

    1951 April, “Notes and News: Improvements at Kyle of Lochalsh”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 281
    1 more example

    The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania.[…]It was used to make kerosene, the main fuel for artificial lighting after overfishing led to a shortage of whale blubber. Other liquids produced in the refining process, too unstable or smoky for lamplight, were burned or dumped.

    2013 August 3, “Yesterday’s fuel”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847

    Synonyms: illumination, light source, light

  2. countableuncountableThe act of activating such equipment, or of igniting a flame etc.

    We've observed plenty of strikings followed by lightings, so even if we should not say that the strikings cause the lightings, isn't it at least reasonable to predict, and to believe, that the next time we strike a match in similar conditions, it will be followed by a lighting?

    2012, Andrew Pessin, Uncommon Sense, page 142
  3. countabledateduncountableThe process of annealing metals.
verb
  1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of light

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe equipment used to provide illumination; the illumination so provided.

More synonyms by meaning

nounhaving abundant light or illumination

Similar

nounthe act of setting something on fire

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*lewk-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*lewktom
  3. Proto-Germanic*leuhtą
  4. Proto-Indo-European*lewk-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*lewk-to-s
  6. Proto-Germanic*leuhtaz
  7. Proto-Germanic*liuhtijaną
  8. Proto-West Germanic*liuhtijan
  9. Old Englishlīehtan
  10. Middle Englishlighten
  11. Englishlight
  12. Englishlighting

From light + -ing.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans beligting
  • beligtingequipment, illumination
Arabic إِضَاءَة
  • إِضَاءَة (ʔiḍāʔa)equipment, illumination
Bulgarian осветле́ние, запа́лване
  • осветле́ние (osvetlénie)equipment, illumination
  • запа́лване (zapálvane)activating lights or igniting a flame
Catalan enllumenat
  • enllumenatequipment, illumination
Chinese Cantonese 照明
  • 照明 (ziu³ ming⁴)equipment, illumination
Chinese Mandarin 照明, 照明
  • 照明 (zhàomíng)equipment, illumination
  • 照明 (zhàomíng)activating lights or igniting a flame
Czech osvětlení
  • osvětleníequipment, illumination
Danish belysning
  • belysningequipment, illumination
Dutch verlichting
  • verlichtingequipment, illumination
Esperanto lumigo
  • lumigoequipment, illumination
Estonian algustus
  • algustusequipment, illumination
Finnish valot, valaistus
  • valotequipment, illumination
  • valaistusequipment, illumination
  • sytyttäminenactivating lights or igniting a flame
  • valaistusactivating lights or igniting a flame
French éclairage, illumination
  • éclairageequipment, illumination
  • illuminationequipment, illumination
German Beleuchtung, Anzünden
  • Beleuchtungequipment, illumination
  • Anzündenactivating lights or igniting a flame
Greek φωτιστικό
  • φωτιστικό (fotistikó)equipment, illumination
Hebrew תְּאוּרָה
  • תְּאוּרָה (t'urá)equipment, illumination
Hindi प्रदीप्ति
  • प्रदीप्ति (pradīpti)equipment, illumination
Hungarian világítás, megvilágítás
  • világításequipment, illumination
  • megvilágításequipment, illumination
  • kivilágításequipment, illumination
  • meggyújtásactivating lights or igniting a flame
Icelandic lýsing
  • lýsingequipment, illumination
Indonesian penerangan, iluminasi
  • peneranganequipment, illumination
  • iluminasiequipment, illumination
  • pencahayaanequipment, illumination
  • penyinaranequipment, illumination
Irish soilsiú, soilsiú
  • soilsiúequipment, illumination
  • soilsiúactivating lights or igniting a flame
Italian illuminazione
  • illuminazioneequipment, illumination
Japanese 照明
  • 照明 (shōmei)equipment, illumination
Korean 조명
  • 조명 (jomyeong)equipment, illumination
Latvian apgaismojums
  • apgaismojumsequipment, illumination
Lithuanian apšvietimas
  • apšvietimasequipment, illumination
Malay pencahayaan
  • pencahayaanequipment, illumination
Norwegian Bokmål belysning, tenning
  • belysningequipment, illumination
  • tenningactivating lights or igniting a flame
Polish oświetlenie, iluminacja
  • oświetlenieequipment, illumination
  • iluminacjaequipment, illumination
Portuguese iluminação
  • iluminaçãoequipment, illumination
Romanian iluminație, iluminare
  • iluminațieequipment, illumination
  • iluminareequipment, illumination
Russian освеще́ние, иллюмина́ция
  • освеще́ние (osveščénije)equipment, illumination
  • иллюмина́ция (illjuminácija)equipment, illumination
  • освети́тельные прибо́ры (osvetítelʹnyje pribóry)equipment, illumination
  • свет (svet)equipment, illumination
  • зажига́ние (zažigánije)activating lights or igniting a flame
  • запа́ливание (zapálivanije)activating lights or igniting a flame
Slovak osvetlenie, iluminácia
  • osvetlenieequipment, illumination
  • ilumináciaequipment, illumination
Spanish iluminación, alumbrado
  • iluminaciónequipment, illumination
  • alumbradoequipment, illumination
  • alumbramientoactivating lights or igniting a flame
  • iluminaciónactivating lights or igniting a flame
Swedish belysning, tändning
  • belysningequipment, illumination
  • tändningactivating lights or igniting a flame
Tagalog pagsusuga
  • pagsusugaequipment, illumination
Thai ประภาส
  • ประภาส (bprà-pâat)equipment, illumination
Turkish aydınlatma, ışıklandırma
  • aydınlatmaequipment, illumination
  • ışıklandırmaequipment, illumination
Ukrainian осві́тлення, ілюміна́ція
  • осві́тлення (osvítlennja)equipment, illumination
  • ілюміна́ція (iljuminácija)equipment, illumination
  • запа́лювання (zapáljuvannja)activating lights or igniting a flame
Vietnamese ánh sáng
  • ánh sángequipment, illumination

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with lighting

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

lighting. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lighting

MLA

“lighting.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lighting. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lighting,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lighting.

Source: lighting on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.