Word Confusion: Lightening versus Lightning

Plural for the noun: lighten
Gerund: lightening

Third person present verb: lightens
Past tense or past participle: lightened
Present participle: lightening

Plural for the noun: lightning

Third person present verb: lightnings
Past tense or past participle: lightninged
Present participle: lightning

Make lighter in weight ²

Make brighter or lighter in color

Misspelling of “lightning”

Verb, intransitive:
Make or become lighter in weight, pressure, or severity ²

• Make or become more cheerful or less serious

Make or become lighter or brighter

Verb, transitive:
Make or become lighter in weight, pressure, or severity ²

• Make or become more cheerful or less serious
• [Archaic] Enlighten spiritually

Noun:
Occurrence of a natural electrical discharge of very short duration and high voltage between a cloud and the ground or within a cloud, accompanied by a bright flash and typically, also thunder

• [Literary] A flash or discharge of lightning

Verb:
Emit or discharge of the sky

Getting rid of these heavy drapes is lightening up the room.

“At least tonight Marijke was on-line too, she saw with a lightening of her spirits” (McDermid).

Verb, intransitive:
The strain had lightened.

Robbie felt her spirits lightening a little.

The sky began lightening in the east

It was a lightening of her burden.

Verb, transitive:
Efforts were made to lighten the burden of regulation.

She attempted a joke to lighten the atmosphere.

She was lightening her hair.

Now the Lord lighten thee, thou art a great fool.

The bleach was lightening the fabric.

It happened at lightning speed.

That boy could move like greased lightning.

Noun:
Lightning can hurt or kill if it hits.

You know what they say, lightning never strikes twice in the same place.

The lightning is so bright, it’s lightening up the night sky.

Hoo, boy, that boy is fast as greased lightning.

The sky was a mass of black cloud out of which lightnings flashed.

That Bessie Mae still got that white lightning a’ her’n?

Verb:
What’s a person to do when it starts to lightning?

If it starts to lightning, we’d better go inside.

“Or if it thundered and lightninged, Aunt Frances always dropped everything she might be doing and held Elizabeth Ann tightly in her arms until it was all over” (Fisher).

1. Mid-14th century as a verbal noun meaning the shedding of light.
2. 1520s from lighten meaning alleviation of weight (literal and figurative).