sidelight

[sahyd-lahyt]

noun

an item of incidental information.

either of two lights carried by a vessel under way at night, a red one on the port side and a green on the starboard.

light coming from the side.

a window or other aperture for light in the side of a building, ship, etc.

a window at the side of a door or another window.

Origin of sidelight

First recorded in 1600–10; side¹ + light¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for sidelight

Contemporary Examples of sidelight

A callous and utterly botched effort, but even if just a sidelight to this execution, it fits the execution like a favorite glove.
India’s Twisted Conscience on Terrorism
Dilip D’Souza
February 16, 2013
As a(nother) sidelight, it's clear that Romney or whoever wrote this piece doesn't actually understand what culture even is.
Romney and Culture: Flip-Flop-Flip!
Michael Tomasky
August 1, 2012

Historical Examples of sidelight

They may throw a sidelight on the great drama of frontier war.
The Story of the Malakand Field Force
Sir Winston S. Churchill
Our first sidelight on this question came in rather a surprising manner.
Preventable Diseases
Woods Hutchinson
But that is neither here nor there; it is merely a sidelight I am giving you.
The Copper-Clad World
Harl Vincent
It is a sidelight of life in another 375 part of the world that has to be seen to be understood.
Seven Legs Across the Seas
Samuel Murray
He glanced through the sidelight of the front door, carelessly.
The Moonlit Way
Robert W. Chambers

British Dictionary definitions for sidelight

sidelight

noun

light coming from the side

a side window

either of the two navigational running lights used by vessels at night, a red light on the port and a green on the starboard

British either of two small lights on the front of a motor vehicle, used to indicate the presence of the vehicle at night rather than to assist the driver

additional or incidental information

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 sidelight

also side-light, c.1600, "light coming from the side," from side (adj.) + light (n.). Figurative meaning "incidental information on a subject" is attested from 1862.