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🇩🇪German Source WordCode: DE

Erleichtern

Pronunciation / Transliteration: er-lai-cht-ern

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Lighten/ˈlaɪ.tən/
verbCEFR B2 (Upper)Top #3450 frequency
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🇩🇪 Example Sentence in German:

"Er wollte ihr die Arbeit erleichtern."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As verb
  1. 1

    To make or become lighter in weight or color.

    "She decided to lighten her hair for the summer."
  2. 2

    To alleviate or reduce the burden or stress of someone.

    "He offered to help with the project to lighten her workload."
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Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Derived from the Old English adjective 'līht', meaning not heavy, combined with the verbal suffix '-en'. Its roots trace back through Proto-Germanic 'lihtija-' and Proto-Indo-European '*legwh-', signifying lack of weight or agility. Over centuries, the verb evolved from its literal physical sense of reducing weight to encompass metaphorical applications involving mood, illumination, and color.

Quick Vocabulary Retention Check

Which of the following is the closest synonym for "Lighten"?

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Thesaurus & Synonyms Graph

Explore Nuanced Synonyms for "Lighten"

Discover exact matches, context-specific alternatives, and antonyms with intensity ratings in the VocabDictionary Thesaurus.

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