lightness

English

From Middle English lightnes, lightnesse,^[1] from Old English līhtnes, lȳhtnys (“enlightening, illumination”), from Proto-West Germanic *liuhtinassī; equivalent to light (“to make bright, illuminate”, verb) +‎ -ness (suffix forming nouns). Cognate with Old High German liuhtnissi (“illumination, enlightening”).

lightness (countable and uncountable, plural lightnesses)

the condition of being illuminated

the relative whiteness or transparency of a colour

the product of being illuminated

From Middle English lightnes, lightnesse,^[2] from Old English *lēohtnes (“lightness”) (compare Old English lēohtmōdnes (“lightness”, literally “light-moodedness”), līhtingnes (“lightness, alleviation”)); equivalent to light (“not heavy”, adjective) +‎ -ness (suffix forming nouns). Cognate with Middle Low German luchtnisse, lüchtnisse (“lightness, frivolity, joyfulness”).

lightness (uncountable)

The state of having little (or less) weight, or little force.
- 1960 January, “The Swindon Type "4" diesel-hydraulic units”, in Trains Illustrated, page 39:
  The unique chassis design is largely the secret of the lightness of the locomotive.
Agility of movement.
Freedom from worry.
- 1852, Mrs M.A. Thompson, “The Tutor's Daughter”, in Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature, Art, and Fashion, page 266:
  In the lightness of my heart I sang catches of songs as my horse gayly bore me along the well-remembered road.
Levity, frivolity; inconsistency.
- 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:
  , New York 2001, p.75:
  Seneca […] accounts it a filthy lightness in men, every day to lay new foundations of their life, but who doth otherwise?

the state of having little weight

Agility of movement

^ “lightnes(se, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2018, retrieved 8 November 2019.
^ “lightnes(se, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2018, retrieved 8 November 2019.