Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Having fewer calories or less of an ingredient than a food or beverage of the same kind.
  • adjective Having less weight than others of the same kind.
  • adjective Less serious, severe, difficult, or extensive than others of the same kind.
  • adjective Used after a common noun or especially a proper noun to indicate that something, such as a work or action, is less serious, severe, difficult, or extensive than what is considered typical of the specified noun.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In a small quantity or degree.
  • noun In the Gr. Ch., a religious procession accompanied with prayer; prayer for a special object made during such a procession.
  • Little.
  • Of low rank.
  • noun A little; a small amount; a short, time.
  • noun An element (a quasi-suffix) in names of minerals, signifying ‘stone’: same as -lith.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective obsolete Little.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Light in composition, notably low in fat, calories etc.:
  • adjective Lightweight
  • adjective Informal spelling of light.
  • adjective Lacking substance or seriousness.
  • noun UK, dialect A little, bit.
  • adjective UK, dialect few; little
  • verb UK, dialect To expect; wait.
  • verb UK, dialect To rely.
  • noun UK, dialect The act of waiting; a wait.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective having relatively few calories

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Alteration of light.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Variation of light ("light-weight, diet")

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English lit, lut ("little"), from Old English lȳt

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English liten, from Old Norse hlíta ("to rely on, trust, abide by"). Cognate with Icelandic hlíta ("to comply"), Swedish lita ("to trust, rely on, depend on, confide in"), Danish lide ("to trust").

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Examples

  • Answer ithica model 37 featherlite depending on what guage can vary in price by condition gun blue book has the 16 g at 150 to 450 depending on condition. the ultra lite is the one that has increased in value due to the low production numbers word diamonds visualization words Bible www. worddiamonds.com

    ithaca 37 value? 2009

  • Answer ithica model 37 featherlite depending on what guage can vary in price by condition gun blue book has the 16 g at 150 to 450 depending on condition. the ultra lite is the one that has increased in value due to the low production numbers word diamonds visualization words Bible www. worddiamonds.com

    ithaca 37 value? 2009

  • Clay a friend of mine shoots a 264 and has good luck with it, I just dont like shootin lite bullets at that vel at anything bigger than a coyote.

    7mm Rem Magnum receives bum rap! 2010

  • Clay a friend of mine shoots a 264 and has good luck with it, I just dont like shootin lite bullets at that vel at anything bigger than a coyote.

    7mm Rem Magnum receives bum rap! 2010

  • "But E-lite is more a matter of aesthetic and style and a considerable softening of the edges in doctrine, politics and social values," Silk says.

    Most religious groups in USA have lost ground, survey finds 2009

  • Ugly Stik lite is the way to go if your into trout or panfishing.

    What kind of fishing pole do you like the most? 2009

  • Tactical Nuclear Penguin lite = 25 % instead of 30 % for full strength.

    Cheeseburger Gothic » Ladies Lounge 2009

  • Ugly Stik lite is the way to go if your into trout or panfishing.

    What kind of fishing pole do you like the most? 2009

  • No change for Interior with this pick: Bush lite is about it.

    Obama Announces Interior and Agriculture Picks - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com 2008

  • In today's Metro there's a quote from a Kosovo imam explaining his nascent country's version of Islam: "Our Islam is 'lite' -- like Coke Lite or Marlboro Light cigarettes."

    For reals? Roger Sutton 2008

Comments

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  • Not that this word appeals, but not every word gets a full going over like this. Once it became the name of London newspaper the BBC decided to investigate.

    December 17, 2007

  • The strange thing is that "London Light" would have been a perfectly acceptable name for a newspaper. I wonder what the marketing people were thinking.

    December 17, 2007