?a1425 (?a1350) T. Castleford Chron. (1996) II. l. 21917 He..wiȝ his so grete bachelrie..On hegh ce stedde wiȝ lightsumnesse [L. gaudio].

Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 304 Lyghtesumnesse, or esynesse, facilitas.

a1450 (c1343) R. Rolle Gastly Gladnesse (Cambr.) in Eng. Writings (1931) 51 My lyfe lendes in luf, and lyghtsumnes unlappes my thoght.

1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xxxvii. 153 By lightsomnesse or heauinesse in learning, by easinesse or hardnesse in retaining.

1617 J. Moore Mappe Mans Mortal. ii. vii. 148 Though the heavy burden of our sinfull flesh doe load vs, yet lightsomnesse it is to a Christian to thinke that the way is not long.

1632 tr. G. Bruele Praxis Medicinæ 200 There is no paine, but rather a lightsomnes of the body.

1829 Westm. Rev. 10 428 The ‘Misfortunes of Elphin’..lacks lightsomeness, grace, and invention.

1885 W. Pater Marius the Epicurean II. 69 Dainty as that old divinely constructed armour of which Homer speaks, but without its miraculous lightsomeness.

1948 S. Seifert Proud Way i. 21 A flush of anger swept over her, dissolving all lightsomeness of mood.

2008 H. Jacobson Act of Love (2009) 230 It would have been cruel of me to have begrudged him this new lightsomeness.

Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 304 Lyghtesumnesse, of bryghtenes, luminositas.

1532 T. More Confut. Tyndale in Wks. 583/1 The faith is not ordinarily with..open, ineuitable, and invincible lyghtsomenesse inspired into the soule.

1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius ii. f. 182^v Spoken..with a farre more playne lightsomnesse by our expositors.

1617 S. Collins Epphata to F. T. i. iv. 170 Paul..was dazeled with the exceeding lightsomenesse.

1754 J. Edwards Careful Enq. Freedom of Will iv. ix. 259 The Sun's being the Cause of the Lightsomeness and Warmth of the Atmosphere.

1791 J. Bentham Panopticon i. 14 Airiness, lightsomeness, economy..are the evident results.

1892 A. Maclaren Paul's Prayers 173 There are some of you, grovelling down at the bottom of the ocean, to whom..the lightness and lightsomeness of the pure life..would seem miraculous.

1934 S. O'Faoláin Nest of Simple Folk (1989) ii. i. 195 There, summer lightsomeness or winter dark, the five would sit.

1999 Irish Times (Nexis) 2 Oct. 76 Step into the triangular entrance hall with its soothingly rounded corners, and the immediate impression is of a place of lightsomeness and space.