light 
being absorbed ; and a piece of red glass owes its color to 
the fact that it transmits only that part of the light whose 
combined effect upon the eye is that of red. According 
to the degree of absorption of light, a body is said to be 
transparent, translucent, opaque, etc. Connected with ab- 
sorption are the phenomena of fluorescence and phos- 
phorescence. (2) Reflection, or the sending back of the 
light-rays by the surface on which they fall into the me- 
dium through which they have come. The laws of reflec- 
tion explain the action of plane, concave, and convex mir- 
rors (see mirror). The irregular reflection, scattering, or 
diffusion of the light from the surfaces of bodies serves 
to make them visible to the eye. (3) Refraction, the break- 
Ing or change of direction of the ray as it passes from one 
medium into another of different density. This may be 
single or double, the latter when the ray is separated into 
two rays. The principles of refraction explain the use of 
lenses (see lens), with the various instruments in which 
they form the essential part, as the microscope, telescope, 
etc. (4) Dispersion, or the separation of rays of different 
wave-length, as when a pencil of white light passes through 
a prism, and a spectrum showing the successive colors is 
produced (see spectrum and spectroscope). (5) Interference, 
or the mutual action of different waves, producing such 
phenomena as Newton's rings, the colors of thin plates, 
and the colored figures of uniaxial and biaxial crystals. 
A special case is that of diffraction, (6) Polarization, or 
that change in a light-ray which limits its vibrations to 
one plane a change produced by reflection and double 
refraction, and leading to a wide range of beautiful phe- 
nomena. See further under each of these terms. 
Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for 
the eyes to behold the sun. Eccl. xi. 7. 
Hail, holy Light ! offspring of heaven first-born, . . . 
Bright effluence of bright essence increate. 
Milton, P. L., iii. 1. 
It is possible to produce darkness by the addition of 
two portions of light. If light is a substance, there cannot 
be another substance which when added to it shall pro- 
duce darkness. We are therefore compelled to admit that 
Kilht is not a substance. Clerk Maxwell, Heat, p. 216. 
No one who has studied the subject can doubt . . . 
that light really consists of a change of state propagated 
from point to point in a medium existing between the 
luminous body and that which the light affects. 
Stokes, Light, p. 25. 
2. In physiol., the sensation produced by the 
action of physical luminosity upon the organ of 
vision. See color. 3. Illumination or enlight- 
enment as an effluence or a result; radiation 
from or to anything, in either a physical or a 
moral sense ; luminosity ; glow ; radiance : as, 
the light of the sun, of a taper, or of a glow- 
worm; to be guided by the light of reason; to 
shed new light on a subject. 
Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. 
Ps. iv. 6. 
Wearing the white flower of a blameless life, 
Before a thousand peering littlenesses, 
In that fierce light which beats upon a throne. 
Tennyson, Idylls of the King, Ded. 
Men and women who have developed power of mind 
and heart by simple fidelity to truth and conscience, un- 
til they have become sources of light and comfort to all 
the neighborhood. J. F. Clarke, Self-Culture, p. 43. 
4. The state or condition of being visible; 
exposure to view; hence, public observation; 
publicity: as, his misdeeds have come to light. 
The better to follow the good, and avoyd the evill, which 
in time must of force bring great thinges to light. 
Booke of Precedence (E. E. T. S., extra ser.), i. 6. 
A doleful story you shall heare, 
In time brought forth to light. 
The Children in the Wood (Child's Ballads, III. 129). 
Oh, spring to light, auspicious Babe, be born ! 
Pope, Messiah, L 22. 
5. That which gives light ; a source of illumina- 
tion ; a body that emits or transmit s rays of light , 
as the sun, the moon, a star, a beacon, a candle, 
etc.; in pyrotechnics, any piece of fireworks 
which burns brightly. 
And God made two great lights ; the greater light to rule 
the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. Gen. i. 16. 
The lights burn blue. It is now dead midnight. 
Shak., Rich. III., v. 3. 180. 
The lights of heav'n (which are the world's fair eies) 
Look down into the world, the world to see. 
Sir J. Dames, Nosce Teipsum. 
That on a certaine night they laye an Image in a bed, 
and number a set bead-roll of lamentations ; which being 
ended, light is brought in. Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 89. 
More than two thousand churches in England have 
lights upon the Altars. 
F. 0. Lee, Directorium Anglicanum, p. 46, note. 
Hence 6. Figuratively, a source of mental 
or spiritual illumination ; one who or that which 
enlightens, as an eminent teacher; anything 
which diffuses knowledge, instruction, or infor- 
mation ; a guiding power or principle ; also, a 
source of cheerfulness or joy. 
The Lord is my light and my salvation. Ps. xxvii. 1. 
The woman where we lodged was an ancient, grave, 
and serious person, to whom we declared the testimony 
of the light, shewing her the difference betwixt an outside 
and an inside religion, which she received with much 
kindness. Penn, Travels in Holland, etc. 
One who has not these previous Lights is very often an 
utter Stranger to what he reads. 
Addison, Spectator, No. 291. 
3446 
But who shall comfort the living, 
The light of whose homes is gone? 
Bryant, Autumn Walk. 
7. Means of communicating light or fire ; some- 
thing to kindle with : as, to give one a light for 
a cigar. 8. A lighthouse: as, Fastnet light; 
Sandy Hook light, 
From Kingston Head and from Montauk light 
The spectre kindles and burns in sight. 
Whittier, The Palatine. 
9. That which admits light ; a medium or an 
opening for the entrance of light, as a window, 
or a pane or compartment of a window : as, a 
window consisting of three lights; a light of 
glass. 
The lights, doors, and stairs [were] rather directed to 
the use of the guest than to the eye of the artificer. 
Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, i. 
10. The manner in which the light strikes upon 
an object or a picture ; also, an illuminated part 
of an object or picture ; the part which lies op- 
posite the point or place from which the light 
comes or is supposed to come. 
Never admit two equal lights in the same picture. 
Dryden, tr. of Dufresnoy's Art of Painting. 
11. The point of view from which, or position 
in which, anything is looked at or considered; 
the side or features to which attention is paid ; 
aspect. 
Consider then, and judge me in this light; 
I told you, when I went, I could not write. 
Pope, Imit. of Horace, II. ii. 27. 
12. In law, the right to have one's windows un- 
obscured by obstructions on the part of one's 
neighbors. 13. In painting, a small patch or 
surface of very light color, as white, used in 
a design, to diversify the effect of the darker 
colors. 14f. A torch-bearer ; a link-boy. 
I went to my lodgings, led by a light, whom I put into 
the discourse of his private economy, and made him give 
me an account of the charge, hazard, profit, and loss of a 
family that depended upon a link. 
Steele, Spectator, No. 464. 
Aberration Of light. See aberration, 6. Accidental, 
albo-carbon light. See the qualifying words. Ancient 
light, in law, a window receiving light over the land of 
another than the owner of the house benefited, which, by 
reason of uninterrupted enjoyment for twenty years or 
more, has become established as an easement, imposing a 
servitude of light and air over such adjoining land. The 
English law, followed in a few of the United States, estab- 
lishes such a right by lapse of time, unless the enjoyment 
was under written permission ; but it does not include a 
right of prospect. In other States such a right cannot be 
claimed by prescription, but only by contract. Artificial 
light. See artificial. Axis of a beam of light. See 
orats'. Beale light, a form of Argand burner in which 
combustion is promoted by a current of air under pres- 
sure. Bengal light, in pyrotechnics, a vivid and sustained 
blue light used in signaling and displays of fireworks. It 
is composed of antimony 1 part, sulphur and mealed 
powder each 2 parts, and nitrate of soda 8 parts, pulver- 
ized, mixed, and pressed into shallow vessels. E. H. 
Knight. Between the lights, between daylight and 
artificial illumination ; in the twilight. 
I was still busy between the lights, singing and working 
by the window. Dickent, Bleak House, xvii. 
Between two lights, between two days ; under cover of 
darkness ; in the night : as, he was forced to leave town 
between two lights. [Colloq.j Blue light, a composition 
which burns with a blue flame, used as a night-signal in 
ships or for military purposes, etc. The color is due to the 
admixture of ammoniacal copper-sulphate in the compo- 
sition. Boccius light, a form of gas-burner in which a 
pair of concentric metallic cylinders are placed over the 
flame inside an ordinary lamp-chimney, to reduce the 
combustion and give a more brilliant light. Bude light, 
an exceedingly brilliant light, produced by directing a 
current of oxygen gas into the interior of the flame of an 
Argand lamp or gas-burner. See Bude burner, under 
burner. Calcium light. See calcium. Catadioptric 
light, a light used in lighthouses, in which are combined 
the catoptric and dioptric systems. Catoptric light, 
a light in which the beam is produced by reflection. See 
catoptric. Chatham light, a kind of flash-light pro- 
duced by blowing a mixture of pulverized resin and mag- 
nesium-dust through the flame of a spirit-lamp. It is used 
for military signals. Children of Light. See child. 
Cockshutt, colored, converging light. See the quali- 
fying words. Collection Of light. See collection 
Common light. Same as white light (<r). Decomposi- 
tion of light. See decomposition. Deviation of a ray 
Of light. See demotion. Diffusion of light, the irregu- 
lar reflection or scattering of the light from the surface of 
a body not absolutely smooth. The light is called diffused 
light. Dioptric light, a light in which the beam is pro- 
duced by_ refraction, not by reflection. See dioptric system, 
under dioptric. Divine light, that illumination which 
proceeds directly from God. Double lights, in light- 
houses, lights on different levels, either in one tower 
at different heights or in two towers. Drummond 
light. Same as calcium light. Electric light. Seeelec- 
Inc. Equation of light. See light-equation. Fixed 
light, in lighthouses, a light which is maintained stead- 
ily without change, in contrast with revolving or inter- 
mittent lights. Floating light, a light displayed at the 
masthead of a vessel or light-ship anchored near a reef, 
shoal, or channel where there is no suitable foundation 
for a lighthouse. Friends of Light. See Free Congre- 
gatinm, under congregation. Ground lights, a row of 
lights used on a stage to light the base of a scene. High 
light 
light, in art, any part or point in a picture upon which 
the light falls or glances in full force and without shad- 
ow : as, the high lights in a portrait, or in a study of still 
life. Homogeneous light, light which is all of one 
color, or, more strictly, of one wave-length ; monochro- 
matic light. Incandescent light. See electric light, un- 
Aer electric. Increate light. Same as divine light. In- 
ner or inward light, spiritual illumination ; knowledge 
divinely imparted ; specifically, as used by the Society of 
Friends, the light of Christ in the soul. Intermittent 
light, in lighthouses, a light which appears suddenly, re- 
mains constant for a short interval, and then suddenly dis- 
appears, the light being alternately displayed and hidden 
by the motion of circular shades in front of the reflectors. 
Law of absorption of light. See iawi. Leading 
lights, lights in different towers to indicate to seamen a 
certain course, channel, or danger. E. H. Knight. Lead 
lights. See lead'*. Light-elasticity, the elasticity of 
the luminiferous ether, upon which the velocity of light- 
propagation depends. This is ordinarily conceived of as 
being modified by the nature of the particular ponderable 
medium under consideration. Thus, the ratio of the ve- 
locities of light in water and glass (or the inverse ratio 
of their refractive indices) expresses also the ratio of the 
light-elasticity in each case. In crystallized media the 
light-elasticity may differ in different directions in the 
same substance, and its character determines whether 
these media are isotropic, uniaxial, or biaxial. See refrac- 
tion, and axes of light-elasticity (under <msl). Light of 
nature, (a) Intellectual perception ; that faculty of the 
mind by which certain truths appear evident* or clear and 
distinct, independently of experience. The phrase was 
used by Descartes in this sense. Leibnitz remarks that 
there are certain innate truths, called instincts, which do 
not belong to the light of nature, because they are ob- 
scure. (6) In thrill., the capacity which belongs to man 
of discovering some of the truths of religion without the 
aid of revelation: opposed to divine light. Light-re- 
gistering apparatus, an automatic device for record- 
ing the amount of light falling upon any particular spot 
during small fixed intervals. E. H. Knight. Magneti- 
zation of light. See magnetization. Monochromatic 
light. See monochromatic. New Lights, a name some- 
times given to persons who have seceded from a church, 
or formed a new religious connection, on account of some 
new view of doctrine or duty. See Campbellite, 1. North- 
ern lights, the aurora borealis. Oxycalcium light. 
Same as calcium, light. Oxyhydrogen light. See oxyhy- 
drogen. 'Rea light, a light colored by strontium. Re- 
volving light.in lighthouses, a light alternately displayed 
and concealed by therevolution of aframewiththreeormore 
sides fitted with large reflectors so arranged that those on 
each side have their axes parallel. The light appears, grad- 
ually increases to full strength, and gradually disappears 
as the opaque sides of the frame intervene between it and 
the observer. The Lights, (a) The Jewish feast of the 
Dedication or Enceenia. (6) In the Greek Church, the feast 
of the Epiphany, or manifestation of Christ to the world, 
especially at his baptism. The name also refers to the il- 
lumination (baptism) of believers, and to the great num- 
ber of lights carried at the ceremony of the benediction of 
the waters (see water) on the day of that feast, symbolical 
of illumination and baptism. To bring to light. See 
bring. To see the light, to come into view; be made 
public ; be brought forth. 
Why am I asked what next shall see the light > 
Pope, Prol. to Satires, 1. 271. 
To stand in one's own light, to be the means of pre- 
venting one's own advantage, or of frustrating one's own 
purposes. 
Even from the first 
You stood in your own light and darken'd mine. 
Tennyson, Princess, iv. 
White light, (a) In physics, the light which comes directly 
from the sun, and which has not been decomposed as by 
refraction in passing through a transparent prism. (6) A 
light produced artificially, and used for signals, etc. (See 
&\so arc-light, flash-light.)=aya. land 2. Flash, Blaze, etc. 
See flame, n. 
light 2 (lit), a. and . [< ME. light, licht, ligt, 
lyht, liht, < AS. ledht, rarely leht, Wit (orig. liht), 
= OS. *Klit (in comp. lihtlik, light) = OFries. 
licht = D. ligt = MLG. licht = OHG. lihti, liht, 
MHG. lihte, G. leicht = Icel. lettr = Sw. Idtt = 
Dan. let = Goth, leihts, light; perhaps orig. 
*linht, "lenht (with orig. pp. suffix -t), akin to 
Lith. lengwus = L. ISeis, earlier levis, orig. *lenh- 
vis (?) = Gr. efatxlf = Skt. raghu, light. From 
the K form leris are ult. E. levity, levitate, leaven?, 
lever 1 , levee 1 , levee^, levy 1 , levy 2 , alleviate, allege^, 
etc.] I. a. 1. Having little or relatively little 
actual weight ; not burdensome ; not cumbrous 
or unwieldy: as, & light load', light weapons. 
This dragon no man cowde wite where Merlin it hadde, 
and it was merveilouse light and mevable ; and whan it 
was set on a launce thei beheilde it for grete merveile. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), i. 116. 
It will be light, my lord, that you may bear it 
Under a cloak that is of any length. 
Shah., T. G. of V., iii. 1. 129. 
The strong and cumb'rous arms the valiant wield, 
The weaker warrior takes a lighter shield. 
Pope, Iliad, xiv. 442. 
2. Having little weight as compared witli bulk ; 
of little density or specific gravity; not heavy, 
either absolutely or relatively : as, feathers and 
cork are light; oil is lighter than water. 
Along the quiet air, 
Come and float calmly off the soft, light clouds, 
Such as you see in Summer. 
Bryant, A Winter Piece. 
3. Of short weight; weighing less than the 
proper or standard amount: as, to use light 
weights in trade ; light coin. 
