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a simple past tense and past participle of 1 .
to dismount from a horse, descend from a vehicle, etc.
to settle or stay after descending:
the bird alighted on the tree.
to encounter or notice something accidentally.
historical examples

then she there alit, and came before the king and saluted him; and he said: damosel, g-d thee bless.
a knyght ther was robert f. young

a faint scent of chypre from petticoat’s cigarette as he alit.
ptomaine street carolyn wells

so when lionel saw this, he alit off his horse to have smitten off his head.
chronicle and romance (the harvard cl-ssics series) jean froissart, thomas malory, raphael holinshed

and then he alit off his horse, and said: fair sweet brother, when came ye hither?
chronicle and romance (the harvard cl-ssics series) jean froissart, thomas malory, raphael holinshed

right so alit a cloud betwixt them in likeness of a fire and a marvellous flame, that both their two shields burnt.
chronicle and romance (the harvard cl-ssics series) jean froissart, thomas malory, raphael holinshed

and on the strand he found a ship covered all with white samite, and he alit, and betook him to jesu christ.
chronicle and romance (the harvard cl-ssics series) jean froissart, thomas malory, raphael holinshed

as ill-luck would have it, i alit upon my feet within the vehicle.
the works of edgar allan poe edgar allan poe

as he said it he alit on mr. thompson’s lips, and pressed some of the honey he had with him into his mouth.
harper’s young people, april 20, 1880 various

we alit before a stately hermitage, set amidst the evergreen trees of well-kept grounds.
autobiography of a yogi paramhansa yogananda

alit et ditat is the inscription which stands, rightly and properly, on the front of the building.
the social contract & discourses jean-jacques rousseau

verb
a rare past tense and past participle of alight1
verb (intransitive) alights, alighting, alighted, alit
(usually foll by from) to step out (of) or get down (from): to alight from a taxi
to come to rest; settle; land: a thrush alighted on the wall
adjective, adverb (postpositive)
burning; on fire
illuminated; lit up

poetic past tense and past participle of alight (v.).
v.

“to descend, dismount,” old english alihtan, originally “to lighten, take off, take away,” from a- “down, aside” (see a- (1)) + lihtan “get off, make light” (see light (v.)). the notion is of getting down off a horse or vehicle, thus lightening it. of aircraft (originally balloons) from 1786. related: alighted; alighting.
adj.

“on fire,” early 15c., apparently from middle english aliht, past participle of alihton (old english on-lihtan) “to light up,” also “to shine upon” (see light (n.)).