bright

Reading level: medium

Estimated CEFR level: A2 — Elementary

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. adjective emitting or reflecting light readily or in large amounts
  2. adjective having striking color
  3. adjective characterized by quickness and ease in learning

Etymology

The adjective is from Middle English bright, from Old English beorht, from Proto-West Germanic *berht, from Proto-Germanic *berhtaz (“bright”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerHǵ- (“to shine, to gleam, whiten”). The noun is derived from Middle English bright (“brightness, brilliance; daylight; light”), from bright (adjective): see above. The English word is cognate with Albanian bardhë (“white”), Dutch brecht (in personal names), Icelandic bjartur (“bright”), Lithuanian brekšta (“to dawn”), Middle Irish brafad (“blink of an eye”), Norwegian bjart (“bright, clear, shining”), Persian برازیدن (barâzidan, “to beautify; to befit”), Northern Luri بڵێز (bełız, “blaze”) Russian бре́зжить (brézžitʹ, “to dawn; to flicker faintly, glimmer; (figuratively) of a hope, thought, etc.: to begin to manifest, emerge”), Sanskrit भ्राजते (bhrājate), Scots bricht (“bright”), Welsh berth (“beautiful, fair, fine”) (obsolete).

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