Torchlit

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Illuminated by the flickering light of burning torches carried or set along a path, room or procession
2. Lit up by flaming torches, giving a warm, wavering glow to the surroundings around them
3. Describing a place or scene brightened by torches, especially at night during an outdoor gathering or ceremony

Etymology: Torchlit is a compound of "torch" and "lit," the past participle of "light." A torch, in the sense of a flaming stick of pitch-soaked wood or tow carried to give light, came into English from Old French "torche," which in turn traces back to Latin "torquere," meaning "to twist," a reference to the twisted bundles of fibre that were wrapped around the end of an early torch. Put the two parts together and "torchlit" describes a place or scene illuminated by such flames. The hyphenated form "torch-lit" is an alternative spelling of the same word, and the closed spelling has become the more common of the two. Its construction is plain: a noun used as the first element of a compound adjective, followed by a past participle, in the same pattern as "candlelit" or "moonlit."

Synonyms: illuminated, lit

Antonyms: dark, unlit