brighten

From bright +‎ -en.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɹaɪtən/
  • (US) IPA^(key): [ˈbɹaɪ̯ʔn̩]
• Rhymes: -aɪtən
• Homophone: Brighton

brighten (third-person singular simple present brightens, present participle brightening, simple past and past participle brightened)

1. (transitive) To make bright or brighter in color.

   We brightened the room with a new coat of paint.

2. (transitive) To make illustrious, or more distinguished; to add luster or splendor to
   • (Can we date this quote?) Jonathan Swift

     The present queen would brighten her character, if she would exert her authority to instill virtues into her people.

3. (transitive, figuratively) To make more cheerful and pleasant; to enliven

   to brighten one's prospects;  Having Mark around the place really brightens things up.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Ambrose Philips

     An ecstasy, which mothers only feel, / Plays round my heart and brightens all my sorrow.

4. (intransitive) To grow bright, or more bright in color; to clear up

   The sun starts to brighten around this time of the year.  The sky brightened as the storm moved on.

5. (intransitive) To become brighter or more cheerful in mood

   She brightened when I changed the subject.

   • 1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter II, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, OCLC 7780546; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., 55 Fifth Avenue, [1933], OCLC 2666860, page 0091:

     Then his sallow face brightened, for the hall had been carefully furnished, and was very clean. ¶ There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.

6. To make acute or witty; to enliven.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Johnson to this entry?)

• brightener
• brighten up

• berthing, bringeth