lighting

American  

[lahy-ting] / ˈlaɪ tɪŋ /

noun

• lightings
  plural

1. the act of igniting or illuminating.

   the lighting of many candles; the annual lighting of the Christmas tree.

2. the arrangement of lights to achieve particular effects.

   to work out the lighting for one's living room.

3. an effect achieved by the arrangement of lights.

   Several critics praised the lighting of the play.

4. the science, theory, or method of achieving particular effects by the use of lights.

5. the way light falls upon a face, object, etc., especially in a picture.

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lighting British  

/ ˈlaɪtɪŋ /

noun

1. the act or quality of illumination or ignition

2. the apparatus for supplying artificial light effects to a stage, film, or television set

3. the distribution of light on an object or figure, as in painting, photography, etc

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• self-lighting
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• lightings
  plural

Etymology

Origin of lighting

First recorded before 1000; Middle English lightinge, Old English līhting; equivalent to light ¹ + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lighting lightings

Scientists observed the crater from several angles and under different lighting conditions, allowing different features to become visible.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

Excellent, if your tastes trend toward carpet tiles, hospital lighting, and the trapped-animal sensation of entering a room with no exit.

From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026

Vita Tzykun’s design, enhanced by Thomas C. Hase’s moody lighting and Devario D. Simmons’s period costumes, has six sets of file cabinets that reverse to form a kitchen or a bedroom.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

The Ruesselsheim teams would in turn refocus on their core competencies -- vehicle parts such as chassis, seats, lighting, steering and driver-assistance systems.

From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026

Steam hung in the air, like the bathhouse back at Camp Jupiter, except bathhouses usually didn’t have thunderstorms crackling across the ceiling, lighting the room in disorienting flashes.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

In recent weeks, the 63-year-old leftist has been dancing on stage at rallies, calmly strolling trade expos and attending Christmas tree lightings hand-in-hand with his wife.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 30, 2025

“Let’s rededicate ourselves to add more light in honor of those murdered in Sydney. Let’s come out proudly to public menorah lightings, and make sure to kindle our own menorahs at home.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 14, 2025

But many of their sisters prefer the aggressive viewpoints and radical lightings of what was then called the New Vision, as developed at the Bauhaus and other hot spots of modern style.

From New York Times ● Jul. 11, 2021

Menorah lightings grew in prominence during the Clinton years.

From Salon ● Dec. 11, 2020

Seen by daylight, Chitterlow was not nearly such a magnificent figure as he had been by the subdued nocturnal lightings and beneath the glamour of his own interpretation.

From Kipps The Story of a Simple Soul by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells