Difference Between Lite and Light

Lite vs Light

Words, like organisms, evolve to indicate how man and society have developed through the years. Every year, several words are added to the old ones; some are new while others are abbreviations or contractions of already known words.
This has become very common with the advent of technology and the proliferation of mobile phone use. How often does one encounter the term “LOL” or “OMG” when chatting with friends on the Internet or when exchanging messages through mobile phones?

The evolution of words is not only apparent with the use of technological devices but in everyday products that people use. Take the case of the word “light,” for example. In later years, it has evolved to have another spelling, “lite.”

The word “light” can be used as a noun, a verb, an adverb, or an adjective. As a noun it is used to refer to something that helps make things visible, such as a lamp that brightens up a room and stimulates the eyes to see the surroundings.
Examples are: (1) “Please turn on the light.” (2) “Everything became very clear and visible when she turned on the light.”

As a verb it is used to refer to the act of brightening, of giving off, or turning a lamp, candle, or bulb on. As an adverb it is used to refer to something that weighs less. As an adjective it is used to refer to something of less weight than what is standard.

Examples are: (1) “Can you please light the candle for me?” (Verb) (2) “This pillow is very light.” (Adjective)
The term “light” comes from the Old English word “leoht” which, in turn, came from the Latin word “lux” and the Greek word “leukos” which means “white” or “bright.” Its first known use in the English language was before the 10th century.
The term “lite,” on the other hand, comes from the French word “lite” which was derived from the Greek word “lithos” which means “stone.” It is a slang term for the word “light” which means “having less weight, substance, or calories.”

It is used to label certain products that are specifically produced with less calories, low fat, or a smaller amount of alcohol content. It is used in advertising and in naming products that producers want to represent as containing less calories or fat.

While it is synonymous with the word “light,” “lite” is preferred by advertisers since using it enables them to circumvent regulations which are not possible if they use the usual word “light.” So today there are a lot of products that are considered lite: lite food, lite soda, and lite beer.

Summary:

1.The word “light” can be used as a noun, a verb, an adverb, or an adjective while the word “lite” is used as a noun and an adjective only.
2.Both “light” and “lite” are used to refer to something that weighs less or contains a lesser amount of fat, alcohol, and calories; while “light” is the standard spelling, advertisers prefer to use “lite” to label products.
3.The word “light” comes from the Old English word “leoht” while the word “lite” comes from the French word “lite.”

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