LITR
nafnorðkarlkyn
m., gen. litar, pl. litir, acc. litu, [Old Engl. and Scot. lit = a stain; Dan. löd; see lit above, and líta; the original form would be vlitr]:—colour, hue, also countenance, complexion; litu góða, Vsp. 18; lostfagrir litir, Hm. 92; bregða lit, to change colour, Fms. vi. 178; skipta litum, to exchange colour, see the remarks s. v. hamr, Fas. i. 128; málit skiptir svá litum, such is the case, its colour is thus, Fms. vii. 136; eigi deilir litr kosti, a saying, Nj. 78 (see deila); sá hann þat at þér var litr einn gefinn, thou art nothing but the hue (outside), Sturl. iii. 180; blár, grár, hvítr, rauðr …, at lit, of blue … colour, Ísl. ii. 213, Anal. 215, passim; í regnboga eru þrír litir, Rb. 336; allir litir eru bjartari á glerinu en hvar annar-staðar, MS. 15. 3.
2. special usage, of day-break, the first dawn when the light changes; en er þeir kómu upp á heiðina kenndu þeir at lit brá, they saw the day-break, Sturl. iii. 217; vísaði hann þeim leið, tók þá at kenna annars litar (viz. in the morning), 171; ok í annan lit (the second colour, viz. the changing from dark to light in the early morning, the ‘blush of morn’) fór hann at sjá veiðiskap þeirra, Þorf. Karl. 396; en at öðrum lit dags, Orkn. 196; litu er lýsti (when the light brightened, impers.) létusk þeir fúsir allir upp risa, Am. 28; cp. 63, where the true reading may be,—dó þá dýrir, dags var heldr snemma | ‘litu er lysti’ … (MS. letu þeir alesti).
3. dye; hann lét leggja lit í augu sér, Fms. ii. 59; sækja grös til litar, Finnb. 214, v. l.
COMPDS: litarapt, litarátta, litarháttr, litaskipti.