sunlight meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

sunlight

noun

/ˈsʌnˌlaɪt/

Etymology From Middle English sonnelight, sunneliht, from Old English sunnan lēoht (“sunlight”), equivalent to sun + light. Cognate with Dutch zonlicht (“sunlight”), German Low German Sünnenlücht (“sunlight”), German Sonnenlicht (“sunlight”).

All the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun; especially, that in the visible spectrum and that bathes the Earth.

Meronym: sunbeams
Near-synonym: daylight

3 more examples

Sunlight on the skin gives you vitamin D.
The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll.2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:
Instead of using unpolarized sunlight as my light source and then filtering it with a polarizer, I can just use my screen as a source of polarized light.2013 July 16, skullsinthestars, “Simple fun with polarizers!”, in Skulls in the Stars:

Figuratively Brightness, hope; a positive outlook.

Synonym of sunrise.

Synonym of photic (“describing that part of the near-surface ocean in which photosynthesis is possible.”).

sunlight zone

Synonyms: daylight, sun, sunshine, hope, optimism, break of day, first light, sunup
Derived terms: Port Sunlight, synchro-sunlight, sunlight is the best disinfectant
Related terms: sunbeam

sunlight

verb

To work on the side (at a secondary job) during the daytime.