Overlight

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˌəʊvə(ɹ)ˈlaɪt/

Definitions

1. Exposed to excessive illumination or having too much brightness
2. To be bathed in a surplus of brightness or light that exceeds typical levels
3. Subject to light in such abundance that it overwhelms the usual levels of brightness

Etymology: "Overlight" is a plain compound: the prefix "over-", meaning too much or excessively, attached to "light" in the sense of illuminating. The verb therefore means to light something too brightly, with too much illumination. Its roots go back to Middle English, where the form "over-lyght" was built the same way, so the word has been assembled from transparent English parts for centuries rather than borrowed from another language. The "over-" prefix is the productive part here. English has long attached it to verbs to signal excess, as in "overcook" or "overexpose", and "overlight" follows that pattern exactly. Its meaning is therefore easy to read from its parts, and nothing in its history has pushed it away from that literal sense.