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alit

[uh-lit]
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verb
  1. a simple past tense and past participle of alight1.
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alight1

[uh-lahyt]
verb (used without object), a·light·ed or a·lit, a·light·ing.
  1. to dismount from a horse, descend from a vehicle, etc.
  2. to settle or stay after descending: The bird alighted on the tree.
  3. to encounter or notice something accidentally.
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Origin of alight1

before 1000; Middle English alighten, Old English ālīhtan, equivalent to ā- a-3 + līhtan to relieve (originally an animal mount) of weight, light2)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for alit

Historical Examples

  • As ill-luck would have it, I alit upon my feet within the vehicle.

    The Works of Edgar Allan Poe

    Edgar Allan Poe

  • A faint scent of chypre from Petticoat's cigarette as he alit.

    Ptomaine Street

    Carolyn Wells

  • Then she there alit, and came before the king and saluted him; and he said: Damosel, God thee bless.

    A Knyght Ther Was

    Robert F. Young

  • They were still high up, but all of a sudden they darted down together and alit on a tall tree that stood nearly alone.

  • And then he alit off his horse, and said: Fair sweet brother, when came ye hither?

    Chronicle and Romance (The Harvard Classics Series)

    Jean Froissart, Thomas Malory, Raphael Holinshed

British Dictionary definitions for alit

alit

verb
  1. a rare past tense and past participle of alight 1
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alight1

verb alights, alighting, alighted or alit (intr)
  1. (usually foll by from) to step out (of) or get down (from)to alight from a taxi
  2. to come to rest; settle; landa thrush alighted on the wall
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Word Origin

Old English ālīhtan, from a- ² + līhtan to make less heavy, from līht light ²

alight2

adjective, adverb (postpositive)
  1. burning; on fire
  2. illuminated; lit up
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Word Origin

Old English ālīht lit up, from ālīhtan to light up; see light 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for alit

poetic past tense and past participle of alight (v.).

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alight

v.

"to descend, dismount," Old English alihtan, originally "to lighten, take off, take away," from a- "down, aside" (see a- (1)) + lihtan "get off, make light" (see light (v.)). The notion is of getting down off a horse or vehicle, thus lightening it. Of aircraft (originally balloons) from 1786. Related: Alighted; alighting.

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alight

adj.

"on fire," early 15c., apparently from Middle English aliht, past participle of alihton (Old English on-lihtan) "to light up," also "to shine upon" (see light (n.)).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper