Lightere

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Having less weight than something else ; a small handheld device that creates a flame for lighting cigarettes or fires ; a flat-bottomed boat used to transfer cargo to and from larger vessels
2. Weighing less than another object ; a portable gadget that produces a small flame for starting fires or lighting things ; a broad, flat barge used to ferry goods between ships and shore
3. Comparatively less heavy in weight ; a pocket-sized tool that sparks a flame on demand ; a shallow cargo boat that moves freight alongside larger ships in harbour

Etymology: A lighter is a flat-bottomed barge used to carry cargo between a large ship and the shore. The name comes from the Dutch "lichter," from "lichten," meaning to lighten, or make lighter, a ship by unloading part of its cargo. Large vessels often could not reach a quay, so their goods were transferred onto these barges in harbour or in the river. The barge took its name from the work it did. The verb "lighten" in this sense means reducing a ship's load, so a vessel that did this job was named for the act. English took the word from Dutch and Low German sailors and trade terms, which is why it sounds at home in the vocabulary of ports and shipping. The word is unrelated to the small device used to light a cigarette, which comes from a different source, "light" in the sense of setting something alight.