lightness

plural lightnesses · alternative lightnesse

1. uncountablethe condition of being illuminated

   Well, darkness has a hunger that's insatiable and lightness has a call that's hard to hear.

   1989 February 28, Emily Saliers, “Closer to Fine”, in Indigo Girls, performed by Indigo Girls

2. uncountablethe relative whiteness or transparency of a colour
3. countableThe product of being illuminated.

alternative lightnesse

1. uncountableThe state of having little (or less) weight, or little force.

   The unique chassis design is largely the secret of the lightness of the locomotive.

   1960 January, “The Swindon Type "4" diesel-hydraulic units”, in Trains Illustrated, page 39

2. uncountableAgility of movement.
3. uncountableFreedom from worry.

   In the lightness of my heart I sang catches of songs as my horse gayly bore me along the well-remembered road.

   1852, Mrs M.A. Thompson, “The Tutor's Daughter”, in Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature, Art, and Fashion, page 266

4. uncountableLevity, frivolity; inconsistency.

   Seneca[…]accounts it a filthy lightness in men, every day to lay new foundations of their life, but who doth otherwise?

   1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy, New York: New York Review Books, published 2001, →ISBN, page 75

   1 more example

   And if the sudden and unannounced arrival of Miss Melhuish at "The Turrets" contained any element of surprise for him, his habitual imperturbability enabled him to pass it off with disarming lightness.

   1934, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], The Bravo of London