# lit

Pronunciation: say "LIT" /ˈlɪt/

## Verb

1. Simple past and past participle of light, in the sense of illuminating or starting a fire. — simple past and past participle of light (“illuminate; start a fire; etc”)
   - Simple: Past tense of light. Use this form for lighting a fire or turning on a light in the past.
   - _The technician lit the burner and adjusted the flame._
   - _They lit lanterns along the path as dusk fell._
6. Simple past and past participle of light, in the sense of alighting or landing. — simple past and past participle of light (“alight: land, come down on”)
   - Simple: Past tense of light, meaning to land or come down on something. Use it for past actions.
   - _The sparrow lit on the windowsill at dawn._
   - _Three crows lit on the fence and waited._
7. To run, or to alight by coming down and settling on something. *(dialectal, US)*
   - Simple: To run, or to come down and land on something.

## Adjective

2. Illuminated; giving off or receiving light.
   - Simple: Giving off light, or having light shining on it.
   - _The kitchen was the only lit room in the house when we got home._
   - _A lit window upstairs told them someone was still awake._
3. Excellent, fantastic, or very cool. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Very good, exciting, or impressive.
   - _The concert was absolutely lit from the first song to the encore._
   - _Everyone agreed the festival this year was lit._
5. Drunk or intoxicated; under the influence of alcohol or drugs. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Drunk, or affected by alcohol or drugs.
   - _By midnight half the wedding guests were thoroughly lit._
   - _He stumbled home lit and barely made it up the stairs._

## Noun

4. Short for literature: books and other writing and the study of them, or printed handouts and information sheets. — Clipping of literature.
   - Simple: Short form of literature. It often means printed handouts or information sheets.
   - _The volunteers passed out lit on every street corner._
   - _He skimmed the product lit before buying anything._

## Adjective

8. Small in size, amount, or extent. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Small in size or amount.

## Noun

9. A small amount or quantity; not much. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A small amount of something.

## Other meanings

- (adjective) Sexually aroused, especially in a visibly obvious way.
- (verb) To color or dye something.
- (noun) Color or hue; a dye or stain used to give something color.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3, 5–7** — An alteration of the earlier past tense "light," from Middle English "lighte" and Old English "līhtte," the past tense of "līhtan" (to light), reshaped by analogy with "bit." It was frowned upon in the 18th and 19th centuries in favour of "lighted," but is now the most common past form of "light."
**Meanings 8–9** — *lewd-, a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to cower, hunch over," led to Proto-Germanic *lūtilaz ("little, small") and then Old English lȳt ("little, few"), which became Middle English lit. Old Saxon lut and the word little are related.
**Meaning 4** — A shortening of "literature."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/lit (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).