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Light vs Bear - What's the difference?

light | bear |

As a proper noun light

is .

As a pronoun bear is

.

light

English

Alternative forms

* lite (informal); lyght, lyghte (obsolete) * (l) (Scotland)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) (m), (m), (m), from (etyl) .

Noun

(wikipedia light) (en noun)
  • (uncountable) The natural medium emanating from the Sun and other very hot sources (now recognised as electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength of 400-750 nm), within which vision is possible.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps,
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=3 citation , passage=Here the stripped panelling was warmly gold and the pictures, mostly of the English school, were mellow and gentle in the afternoon light .}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Out of the gloom , passage=[Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light' to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of ' light in the villages.}}
  • A source of illumination.
  • * , chapter=5
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights , […], the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts.}}
  • Spiritual or mental illumination; enlightenment, useful information.
  • * Shakespeare
  • He shall never know / That I had any light of this from thee.
  • Facts; pieces of information; ideas, concepts.
  • * , Book I, New York 2001, page 166:
  • Now these notions are twofold, actions or habits […], which are durable lights and notions, which we may use when we will.
  • A notable person within a specific field or discipline.
  • * Tennyson
  • Joan of Arc, a light of ancient France
  • (painting) The manner in which the light strikes a picture; that part of a picture which represents those objects upon which the light is supposed to fall; the more illuminated part of a landscape or other scene; opposed to shade .
  • A point of view, or aspect from which a concept, person or thing is regarded.
  • * South
  • Frequent consideration of a thing shows it in its several lights and various ways of appearance.
  • A flame or something used to create fire.
  • A firework made by filling a case with a substance which burns brilliantly with a white or coloured flame.
  • a Bengal light
  • A window, or space for a window in architecture.
  • The series of squares reserved for the answer to a crossword clue.
  • (informal) A cross-light in a double acrostic or triple acrostic.
  • Open view; a visible state or condition; public observation; publicity.
  • * Shakespeare
  • The duke yet would have dark deeds darkly answered; he would never bring them to light .
  • The power of perception by vision.
  • * Bible, Psalms xxxviii. 10
  • My strength faileth me; as for the light of my eyes, it also is gone from me.
  • The brightness of the eye or eyes.
  • * Shakespeare
  • He seemed to find his way without his eyes; / For out o'door he went without their helps, / And, to the last, bended their light on me.
  • A traffic light, or, by extension, an intersection controlled by one.
  • Synonyms
    * (electromagnetic wave perceived by the eye) visible light
    Derived terms
    * ancient lights * black light * booklight * bring to light * come to light * fanlight * footlight * gaslight * half-light * headlight * hide one's light under a bushel * lamplight * light at the end of the tunnel * light box, lightbox * light bucket * light globe * Light of the World * lightbulb * lighthouse * ! * moonlight * nightlight * searchlight * see the light * skylight * spotlight * strike a light * sunlight * twilight * Very light * white light

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) (m), (m), from (etyl) .

    Verb

  • To start (a fire).
  • We lit the fire to get some heat.
  • To set fire to; to set burning; to kindle.
  • She lit her last match.
  • * Hakewill
  • if a thousand candles be all lighted from one
  • * Addison
  • Absence might cure it, or a second mistress / Light up another flame, and put out this.
  • To illuminate.
  • I used my torch to light the way home through the woods in the night.
  • * F. Harrison
  • One hundred years ago, to have lit' this theatre as brilliantly as it is now ' lighted would have cost, I suppose, fifty pounds.
  • * Dryden
  • The Sun has set, and Vesper, to supply / His absent beams, has lighted up the sky.
  • To become ignited; to take fire.
  • This soggy match will not light .
  • To attend or conduct with a light; to show the way to by means of a light.
  • * Landor
  • His bishops lead him forth, and light him on.
    Synonyms
    * ignite, kindle, conflagrate * (illuminate) illuminate, light up
    Antonyms
    * extinguish, put out, quench
    Derived terms
    * light someone's fire * light up * highlight

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) (m), (m), (m), from (etyl) . Cognate with (etyl) (m), (etyl) (m).

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Having light.
  • Pale in colour.
  • *
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage='Twas early June, the new grass was flourishing everywheres, the posies in the yard—peonies and such—in full bloom, the Sun was shining, and the water of the bay was blue, with light green streaks where the shoal showed.}}
  • (of coffee) Served with extra milk or cream.
  • Synonyms
    * (having light) bright * (pale in colour) pale * : white, with milk, with cream
    Derived terms
    * light-haired * light-skinned

    Etymology 4

    From (etyl) .

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Of low weight; not heavy.
  • My bag was much lighter once I had dropped off the books.
  • * Addison
  • These weights did not exert their natural gravity insomuch that I could not guess which was light or heavy whilst I held them in my hand.
  • Lightly-built; designed for speed or small loads.
  • We took a light aircraft down to the city.
  • (senseid)Gentle; having little force or momentum.
  • This artist clearly had a light , flowing touch.
  • Easy to endure or perform.
  • light duties around the house
  • * Dryden
  • Light sufferings give us leisure to complain.
  • Low in fat, calories, alcohol, salt, etc.
  • This light beer still gets you drunk if you have enough of it.
  • Unimportant, trivial, having little value or significance.
  • I made some light comment, and we moved on.
  • travelling with no carriages, wagons attached
  • (obsolete) Unchaste, wanton.
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , I.i:
  • Long after lay he musing at her mood, / Much grieu'd to thinke that gentle Dame so light , / For whose defence he was to shed his blood.
  • * Shakespeare
  • So do not you; for you are a light girl.
  • * Shakespeare
  • A light wife doth make a heavy husband.
  • Not heavily armed; armed with light weapons.
  • light''' troops; a troop of '''light horse
  • Not encumbered; unembarrassed; clear of impediments; hence, active; nimble; swift.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • Unmarried men are best friends, best masters but not always best subjects, for they are light to run away.
  • (dated) Easily influenced by trifling considerations; unsteady; unsettled; volatile.
  • a light''', vain person; a '''light mind
  • * Tillotson
  • There is no greater argument of a light and inconsiderate person than profanely to scoff at religion.
  • Indulging in, or inclined to, levity; lacking dignity or solemnity; frivolous; airy.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Seneca can not be too heavy, nor Plautus too light .
  • * Hawthorne
  • specimens of New England humour laboriously light and lamentably mirthful
  • Not quite sound or normal; somewhat impaired or deranged; dizzy; giddy.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Are his wits safe? Is he not light of brain?
  • Not of the legal, standard, or usual weight; clipped; diminished.
  • light coin
    Synonyms
    * (of low weight) * (lightly-built) lightweight * (having little force or momentum) delicate, gentle, soft * lite, lo-cal (low in calories), low-alcohol (low in alcohol) * (having little value or significance) inconsequential, trivial, unimportant
    Antonyms
    * (of low weight) heavy, weighty * (lightly-built) cumbersome, heavyweight, massive * (having little force or momentum) forceful, heavy, strong * calorific (high in calories), fatty (high in fat), strong (high in alcohol) * (having little value or significance) crucial, important, weighty
    Derived terms
    * light as a feather * lightness

    Adverb

    (er)
  • Carrying little.
  • I prefer to travel light.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (curling) A stone that is not thrown hard enough.
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • (nautical) To unload a ship, or to jettison material to make it lighter
  • To lighten; to ease of a burden; to take off.
  • * Spenser
  • His mailèd habergeon she did undight, / And from his head his heavy burgonet did light .
    Derived terms
    * lighter

    Etymology 5

    (etyl)

    Verb

  • To find by chance.
  • I lit upon a rare book in a second-hand bookseller's.
  • (archaic) To alight.
  • She fell out of the window but luckily lit on her feet.
    Synonyms
    * (find by chance) chance upon, come upon, find, happen upon, hit upon * (alight) alight, land
    Derived terms
    * light into * light out

    bear

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) (m), from (etyl) ). (etymology notes) This is generally taken to be from (etyl) ), related to (m) and (m). The Germanic languages replaced the older name of the bear, , with the epithet "brown one", presumably due to taboo avoidance; compare (etyl) , literally “honey-eater”. However, Ringe (2006:106) doubts the existence of a root *b?er- meaning "brown" ("an actual PIE word of [the requisite] shape and meaning is not recoverable") and suggests that a derivation from (etyl) "should therefore perhaps be preferred", implying a Germanic merger of *??w'' and ''*g??'' (''*g??'' may sometimes result in Germanic ''*b'', perhaps e.g. in '''', but it also seems to have given the ''g'' in ''gun'' and the ''w'' in ''warm .)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A large omnivorous mammal, related to the dog and raccoon, having shaggy hair, a very small tail, and flat feet; a member of family Ursidae, particularly of subfamily .
  • (figuratively) A rough, unmannerly, uncouth person.
  • (finance) An investor who sells commodities, securities
  • (slang, US) A state policeman (short for smokey bear).
  • * 1976 June, CB Magazine , Communications Publication Corporation, Oklahoma City, June 40/3:
  • ‘The bear's pulling somebody off there at 74,’ reported someone else.
  • (slang) A large, hairy man, especially one who is homosexual.
  • * 1990 , "Bears, gay men subculture materials" (publication title, , Collection Level Periodical Record):
  • * 2004 , Richard Goldstein, Why I'm Not a Bear'', in ''The Advocate , number 913, 27 April 2004, page 72:
  • I have everything it takes to be a bear : broad shoulders, full beard, semibald pate, and lots of body hair. But I don't want to be a fetish.
  • * 2006 , Simon LeVay, Sharon McBride Valente, Human sexuality :
  • There are numerous social organizations for bears in most parts of the United States. Lesbians don't have such prominent sexual subcultures as gay men, although, as just mentioned, some lesbians are into BDSM practices.
  • (engineering) A portable punching machine.
  • (nautical) A block covered with coarse matting, used to scour the deck.
  • Synonyms
    * (large omnivorous mammal) see * see * (police officer) see
    Antonyms
    * (investor who anticipates falling prices) bull
    Derived terms
    * ant bear * Atlas bear * bear cat/bearcat * bear claw * bear cub * bear grass * bear hug * bear market * bearish * bearly * bear pit * bear's breech * bear spread * beartrap/bear trap * bear walker * black bear * brown bear * cat bear * cave bear * dancing bear * does a bear shit in the woods * Etruscan bear * Gobi bear * Great Bear * grizzly bear * gummy bear * honey bear * koala bear * kodiak bear/Kodiak bear * Little Bear * loaded for bear * mama bear * mamma bear * moon bear * native bear * panda bear * polar bear * she-bear * sloth bear * spectacled bear * sun bear * teddy bear * washing bear * water bear * white bear * wooly bear/woolly bear

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (finance) To endeavour to depress the price of, or prices in.
  • to bear a railroad stock
    to bear the market

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (finance, investments) Characterized by or believing to benefit of declining prices in securities markets.
  • The great bear market starting in 1929 scared a whole generation of investors.

    See also

    * ursine * *

    References

    * Donald A. Ringe, From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic'' (2006), ''Linguistic history of English, vol. 1 , Oxford: Oxford University Press (ISBN 0-19-955229-0)

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) .

    Verb

  • To support or sustain; to hold up.
  • This stone bears most of the weight.
  • To carry something.
  • * (rfdate), (Shakespeare):
  • I'll bear your logs the while.
  • * 2005 , Lesley Brown, translator, :
  • imitations that bear the same name as the things
  • * {{quote-book, 1852, Mrs M.A. Thompson, chapter=The Tutor's Daughter, Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature, Art, and Fashion, page=266 citation
  • , passage=In the lightness of my heart I sang catches of songs as my horse gayly bore me along the well-remembered road.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=1954
  • , month=03 , first=Ray , last=Bradbury , title=All Summer in a Day , volume=6 , issue=3 , page=122 , magazine=The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction , publisher=Fantasy House, Inc. , issn= citation , passage=They surged about her, caught her up and bore her }}
  • To be equipped with (something).
  • the right to bear arms
  • To wear or display.
  • The shield bore a red cross.
  • To declare as testimony.
  • The jury could see he was bearing''' false '''witness .
  • To put up with something.
  • I would never move to Texas—I can't bear heat.
    Please bear with me as I ramble on and on about nothing very important, such as that time when I was in Montana and I may have seen a mountain lion, but it was pretty far off and it was raining—the weather, not the lion—and the car broke down...
  • To give birth to someone or something (may take the father of the direct object as an indirect object).
  • In Troy she becomes Paris’ wife, bearing him several children, all of whom die in infancy.
  • (ambitransitive) To produce or yield something, such as fruit or crops.
  • * (rfdate), (John Dryden)
  • this age to blossom, and the next to bear
  • To be, or head, in a specific direction or azimuth (from somewhere).
  • The harbour bears north by northeast.
    By my readings, we're bearing due south, so we should turn about ten degrees east.
    Great Falls bears north of Bozeman.
  • To suffer, as in carrying a burden.
  • * (rfdate) (Alexander Pope):
  • Man is born to bear .
  • To endure with patience; to be patient.
  • * (rfdate) (John Dryden):
  • I cannot, cannot bear .
  • To press; with on'', ''upon'', or ''against .
  • * (rfdate) (Addison):
  • These men bear hard on the suspected party.
  • To take effect; to have influence or force.
  • to bring matters to bear
  • To relate or refer; with on'' or ''upon .
  • How does this bear on the question?
  • To have a certain meaning, intent, or effect.
  • * (rfdate) (Nathaniel Hawthorne):
  • Her sentence bore that she should stand a certain time upon the platform.
  • (obsolete) To conduct; to bring (a person).
  • * (rfdate) (Shakespeare):
  • Bear them to my house.
  • To possess and use (power, etc.); to exercise.
  • * (rfdate) Bible, Esther 1.22:
  • Every man should bear rule in his own house.
  • To possess mentally; to carry or hold in the mind; to entertain; to harbour.
  • * (rfdate) (Shakespeare):
  • the ancient grudge I bear him
  • (obsolete) To gain or win.
  • * (rfdate) (Francis Bacon):
  • Some think to bear it by speaking a great word.
  • * (rfdate) (Latimer):
  • She was found not guilty, through bearing of friends and bribing of the judge.
  • To sustain, or be answerable for (blame, expense, responsibility, etc.).
  • * (rfdate) Bible, Isaiah 53:11:
  • He shall bear their iniquities.
  • * (rfdate) (John Dryden):
  • somewhat that will bear your charges
  • To carry on, or maintain; to have.
  • * (rfdate) (John Locke):
  • the credit of bearing a part in the conversation
  • To admit or be capable of; to suffer or sustain without violence, injury, or change.
  • * (rfdate) (Jonathan Swift):
  • In all criminal cases the most favourable interpretation should be put on words that they can possibly bear .
  • To manage, wield, or direct; to behave or conduct (oneself).
  • * (rfdate) (Shakespeare):
  • Thus must thou thy body bear .
  • * (rfdate) (Shakespeare):
  • Hath he borne himself penitently in prison?
  • To afford; to be (something) to; to supply with.
  • * (rfdate) (Alexander Pope):
  • His faithful dog shall bear him company.
    Usage notes
    * The past participle of bear'' is usually ''borne : ** He could not have borne that load. ** She had borne five children. ** This is not to be borne ! * However, when bear'' means "to give birth to" (literally or figuratively), the passive past participle is ''born : ** She was born on May 3. ** Born three years earlier, he was the eldest of his siblings. ** "The idea to create [the Blue Ridge Parkway] was born in the travail of the Great Depression ." (Tim Pegram, The Blue Ridge Parkway by Foot: A Park Ranger's Memoir , ISBN 0786431407, 2007, page 1) * Both spellings are used in the construction born(e) to someone (as a child): ** He was born(e) to Mr. Smith. ** She was born(e) to the most powerful family in the city. ** "[M]y father was borne to a Swedish mother and a Norwegian father, both devout Lutherans." (David Ross, Good Morning Corfu: Living Abroad Against All Odds , ISBN 1452450323, 2009)
    Derived terms
    * bear down * bear down on * bear fruit * bear in mind * bear out * bear up * bear with * bear witness * bring to bear * not bear thinking about * outbear

    Statistics

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