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Yes, 'alight' is a verb; listed by the OED as 'alight, v. 1' sense 4b "To descend and settle; (of something in flight) to land. Freq. with on, upon. Also fig.".
by pm215 10y ago
Yes, 'alight' is a verb; listed by the OED as 'alight, v. 1' sense 4b "To descend and settle; (of something in flight) to land. Freq. with on, upon. Also fig.". Citations back to 1330 with ones obviously like the modern usage back in 1610, eg "c1610–15 Life Holie Hilda in C. Horstmann Lives Women Saints (1886) 57 A greate number of birds alighting in her fields of corne, and deuouring it shrewdlie." Latest cite 2006, so not obsolete or archaic.
- vorotato 10y agoThe word landing would probably be clearer.
- caminante 10y agoHa! Thanks. I re-read the author's paragraph. On first read, I thought he's using alight in the sense of "lighting." In that case, it's not a verb. I assumed this because even show DJ's who are "just pressing play" still touch the dials. It's just that the board isn't plugged in. edit: it appears there's a non-OE meaning that I overlooked too [0] from mis-interpreting the text. [0] http://www.dictionary.com/browse/alighting http://www.dictionary.com/browse/alighting