Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
lite [lahyt]Informal. ExamplesWord Origin 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
Origin of lite First recorded in 1965–70; an informal, simplified spelling of light2 Related formslite·ness, nounCan be confusedlite light -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 Examples from the Web for lite Contemporary Examples of lite
Ngai associates it with other “lite” aesthetic categories promulgated by postwar consumer culture: quaint, wacky, quirky, cool.
Zany, Cute, Interesting: What the Words We Use Say About Us
Benjamin Lytal
October 23, 2012
Even The Wall Street Journal weighed in, describing LeMieux as nothing more than “Charlie Crist lite.”
Jim DeFede
September 4, 2009
Historical Examples of lite
Why should not these members of the lite have exceptional enjoyment?
Franois Coppe
This lite of which the University is thus robbed must be got back.
The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume 6 (of 6)
Hippolyte A. Taine
The choicest of the lite were there,—ladies in demi-toilet and bonneted.
Music and Some Highly Musical People
James M. Trotter
The elect of God, the lite of all the centuries, of whom the world was not worthy.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
The lite of intelligence and fashion honored us with their presence.
Marion Harland
British Dictionary definitions for lite lite 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 -lite n combining form
- (in names of minerals) stonechrysolite Compare -lith
Word Origin for -lite from French -lite or -lithe, from Greek lithos stone Word Origin and History for lite adj.
alternative spelling of light (adj.1), by 1962. Used from at least 1917 in product names, often as a variation of light (n.).
The word Adjusto-Lite for portable electric lamps was opposed by the user of a trade mark Auto-lite registered before the date of use claimed by the applicant. [“The Trade-Mark Reporter,” 1922] -lite
word-forming element meaning “stone,” from French -lite, variant of -lithe, from Greek lithos “stone” (see litho-).