Lyte

Part of speech: adjective, noun

Definitions

1. An archaic spelling of light, used to describe something having little weight or a small amount of substance
2. A rare old variant of the word light, meaning slight in weight, quantity or degree
3. Obsolete spelling meaning light, referring to something of small weight or of limited amount

Etymology: "Lyte" is an old spelling variant rather than a modern word in its own right. In Middle English it appeared as a short form of "lytel," the Old English ancestor of "little," so it could mean "small" or "slight." Over the centuries the spelling merged with "light," which descends from Old English "lēoht," and "lyte" came to be read as a variant of that word. Its modern survival is mostly as a surname, most famously that of the hymn writer Henry Francis Lyte, author of "Abide with Me."