DEFINITIONS
The
2019 WORD
OF THE YEAR is...

lite

[ lahyt ]
/ laɪt /
Informal.

adjective

noting a commercial product that is low in calories or low in any substance considered undesirable, as compared with a product of the same type: used especially in labeling or advertising commercial products: lite beer.
noting a version that is comparatively less extreme, profound, advanced, etc., than the typical version (often used postpositively): The film glossed over the dangers of the experiment with a science-lite explanation. The lite version of the app is available for mobile download.

noun

light2(def 36).

Content related to lite

A Look Into The Girl Scout Cookie JarThe Girl Scouts have been selling cookies for more than 100 years, and America can't get enough of them. Here at Dictionary.com, we can't get enough of the names behind them.
READ MORE
English Affixes From A To Z: A One-Stop List Of Suffixes, Prefixes, and Combining FormsIn English, we love to make new words by adding all sorts of bits to the front and back of existing terms. These are called affixes, and they are added to the base or stem of a word. When attached to the end of word, the affix is called a suffix. And to the beginning? A prefix.
READ MORE

Words nearby lite

lit.d., litany, litas, litchi, litchi nut, lite, liter, literacy, literacy hour, literacy test, literae humaniores

Origin of lite

First recorded in 1965–70; an informal, simplified spelling of light2

OTHER WORDS FROM lite

lite·ness, noun

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH lite

lite light

Definition for lite (2 of 2)

-lite

a combining form used in the names of minerals or fossils: aerolite; chrysolite.
Also -lyte2.
Compare -lith.

Origin of -lite

< French, simplified form of -lithe < Greek líthos stone; similarly German -lit, earlier -lith
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for lite

British Dictionary definitions for lite (1 of 2)

lite
/ (laɪt) /

adjective

(of food and drink) containing few calories or little alcohol or fat
denoting a more restrained or less extreme version of a person or thingreggae lite

Word Origin for lite

C20: variant spelling of light ²

British Dictionary definitions for lite (2 of 2)

-lite

n combining form

(in names of minerals) stonechrysolite Compare -lith

Word Origin for -lite

from French -lite or -lithe, from Greek lithos stone
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