a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Psalms xviii. 9 The heste of the Lord [is] liȝtsum [L. lucidum], liȝtende eȝen.

1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. John 12 God the father, the fountain of all light; from whence what soeuer is lightsome in heauen and earth, boroweth his light.

1596 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent (rev. ed.) 9 Master Camden the most lightsome Antiquarie of this age.

1615 Bp. J. Hall Contempl. III. O.T. xi. 444 The lights of Israel..should be succeeded with one, so much more lightsome then they.

1728 J. Swift Two Lett. to Dublin Weekly Jrnl. i, in Wks. (1824) VII. 206 You must grow from chaos and darkness, to the little glimmerings of existence first, and then proceed to more lightsome appearances afterwards.

1883 R. W. Dixon Mano i. viii. 21 Those lightsome words that warm like summer days.

1897 G. Sigerson tr. Bards of Gael & Gall xii. 392 She's sweeter than the violin, More lightsome than the sun.

1920 S. Desmond Passion i. v. 45 My father had grey, lightsome eyes. Whenever he spoke of the thing in the box his eyes lighted up and expanded slightly.

1967 N. Tranter Lion let Loose ix. 98 He stood at the window, unaware that he did so, full of the lightsome glow which the girl had kindled so astonishingly within him.

Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 304 Lyghtesum, or fulle of lyghte, luminosus.

a1500 Legend of Cross in Medium Ævum (1965) 34 214 (MED) In the myddis..of Paradice a lightsum [L. lucidissimum] welle to bihold, of whiche wellid out iiii floodis, of whom thiese bien the names.

1530 J. Rastell New Bk. Purgatory iii. ix. sig. g^v The sonne & y^e other starres..we see them so lyghtsom, so pure and clene.

1655 W. Gurnall Christian in Armour: 1st Pt. 3 A dark Lanthorn, lightsome one way, and dark another.

1813 P. B. Shelley Queen Mab viii. 104 Lightsome clouds and shining seas.

1877 E. C. Phelps & L. F. Lewis Song-sheaf 45 Goddess! dart thy lightsome beam, Till the waves with silver gleam Brightly o'er the path we go.

1959 M. Mowbray & G. Pouzzner tr. Air France Tourist Trav. Guide 178/1 The air, the light, of Attica. Under its golden, lightsome rays, everything in Athens, everything in life seems changed.

1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Luke xi. f. cx The whole house is lightsome, whan the brightnesse of the candle geueth his light all about.

a1552 J. Leland Itinerary (1711) VII. 88 The Paroche Chirche is faire and lyghtesom.

1625 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 259 His Stately Galleries, and Roomes, so Large and Lightsome.

1654 A. Cokayne tr. G. F. Loredano Dianea i. 44 The Princesse was full of wonder..That this habitation being under ground was so lightsome.

1726 G. Leoni Alcuni Disegni di Edificj: Some Designs for Buildings 2/2 The Ground-floor is..above the level of the Street, which..makes the offices beneath more lightsome.

1798 W. Wordsworth Goody Blake & Harry Gill in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge Lyrical Ballads 87 The long, warm, lightsome summer-day.

1873 J. A. Symonds Stud. Greek Poets xii. 407 Beneath the lightsome vault of heaven he stands and prays.

1927 Amer. Elevator & Grain Trade 15 Jan. 456/1 The interior affords a large lightsome salesroom.

2016 Irish Examiner (Nexis) 5 Nov. (Suppl.) This house is..spacious, airy and lightsome.

1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. viii. 116 Beyond the first Olimpiade, there is nothing but a thicke Cloude of ignorance, euen in the lightsomest places of all Greece.

a1664 M. Frank LI Serm. (1672) 255 The times of the Gospel are the only lightsome day.

1714 S. Stoddard Guide to Christ 10 It is..a thing of ordinary experience in such people as God is about to deliver out of a Natural Estate. They commonly have some lightsome times, and then returns [sic] to darkness.

1863 W. G. Blaikie Better Days for Working People ii. 48 Will the six days of labour be none the lightsomer for the sunshine of the day of rest?

a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 936 With ladyes and with Bacheleris Full lyghtsom and glad of cheris.

c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn l. 2973 Hir þouȝtis..did hir peyn to make liȝtsom chere.

1590 T. Watson Eglogue vpon Death Walsingham 121 That lightsome vaine is changd from youth to aged grauitie.

1657 A. Sparrow Rationale Bk. Common Prayer (1661) 389 White garments..suit fitly with that lightsome affection of joy.

1679 C. Ness Protestant Antidote Popery 202 A lightsome story of a French gentleman..being asked merrily [etc.].

1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 547. ⁋12 I now find myself chearful, lightsome and easy.

1812 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Cantos I & II ii. lxxxii. 106 Greece is no lightsome land of social mirth.

1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian v, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. II. 121 Lightsome sangs make merry gate.

1877 M. Oliphant Makers of Florence (ed. 2) ii. 39 The merry-makers were dancing..a lightsome crowd, with garlands and greenery.

1937 Beckley (W. Va.) Post-Herald 2 Feb. 3/3 Presently the orchestra broke into a lightsome tune.

2011 Observer (Nexis) 30 Jan. (Review section) 37 Tait's..film of her mother dancing through the Orkney heather could hardly give a better sense of the old woman's lightsome spirit and lilting voice.

a1425 in M. Day Wheatley MS (1921) 9 Dar noon schewe the lightsom mode Whiles thei [sc. Christ and Mary] be wrothe.

1533 Sir T. More in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1824) 1st Ser. II. 52 Not uppon the fallible opinion or sone spoken words of lightsome chaungeable peple.

a1805 A. Carlyle Autobiogr. (1860) xiv. 524 The neighbours..were all very agreeable, even the clergyman's wife, who was a little lightsome.

1890 ‘W. A. Wallace’ Only a Sister 77 She was as good-living a woman as ever stepped; but lightsome like, as foreign folks are.

Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 304 Lyghtesum, or esy [a1500 King's Cambr. lihtsum], facilis.

1578 R. Day Bk. Christian Prayers f. 77^v Let thy yoke become sweete and thy burthen lightsom to me through thy crosse.

1654 T. Wodenote Eremicus Theologus sig. M3^v A setled course and continuall practice of faith and repentance will within a while make all that was laborious, lightsome.

1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm II. 483 Every creature about you, man, woman, and beast, is then toiled beyond endurance every day, not to keep up work, which is a lightsome task, but to make up work, which is a toilsome task.

1880 L. Wallace Ben-Hur v. vii. 327 Verily thou dost make servitude lightsome.

1920 J. L. Waugh Heroes in Homespun 67 They were happy days for youth an' hope made work lichtsome.

1984 D. K. Cameron Cornkister Days xvi. 198 For any self-respecting horse, these lightsome tasks were like having a day off.

a1661 W. Brereton Trav. (1844) 179 The pillars as strong as any I have seen..but nothing neat or lightsome.

1740 H. Bracken Farriery Improv'd (ed. 2) II. i. 19 Nothing contributes more to a Horse's being easy upon the Rider's Hand, than a lightsome Fore-End, and thin Shoulders.

1824 M. R. Mitford Our Village I. 14 Snowy blossoms..so lightsome, and yet so rich!

a1851 D. M. Moir Angler ii, in Poet. Wks. (1852) His hat of whitest straw, Lightsome of wear.

1877 M. Oliphant Makers of Florence (ed. 2) iv. 116 The lofty tower, straight and lightsome as a lily.

2002 Spectator (Nexis) 11 May 30 That mouth-watering pudding, the diplomate, a lightsome mixture of foamy sponge and crystallised fruits and nuts.

1808 F. D. Browne Poems 11 Soft rolls the glassy main; the lightsome breeze Brings to my heart serenity and ease.

1828 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Oct. 519 The finger..never again, with so lightsome touch, braids the hair above the fair forehead.

1948 J. Farnol Most Sacred of All vi. 61 With lightsome tap the door opened and Viscount Twily entered.

1994 Iowa Rev. 24 90 He had a lightsome touch, and could arrange his elaborate patterns of electrodes like a florist finicking over each leaf of a lavish piano-top display.