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Brightness vs Lightness - What's the difference?

brightness | lightness |

As nouns the difference between brightness and lightness

is that brightness is the quality of being bright while lightness is the condition of being illuminated.

brightness

English

Noun

(wikipedia brightness) (en-noun)
  • The quality of being bright.
  • *, chapter=5
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness ; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.}}
  • The perception elicited by the luminance of an object.
  • Intelligence, cleverness.

    • Synonyms

    * See also

    lightness

    English

    Etymology 1

    from light, the noun

    Noun

  • (uncountable) the condition of being illuminated
  • (uncountable) the relative whiteness or transparency of a colour
  • (countable) The product of being illuminated.

    • Etymology 2

    From (light), the adjective.

    Noun

    (-)
  • The state of having little weight, or little force.
  • Agility of movement.
  • Freedom from worry.
  • * {{quote-book, 1852, Mrs M.A. Thompson, chapter=The Tutor's Daughter, page=266, title= Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature, Art, and Fashion
    • , passage=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.
  • *, New York 2001, p.75:
    • Senecaaccounts it a filthy lightness in men, every day to lay new foundations of their life, but who doth otherwise?

    Anagrams

    * English words suffixed with -ness