Word.ws English Dictionary

ancient lights

ancient lights noun: the right, based in English common law, of a property owner to retain an accustomed, unobstructed view and satisfactory illumination from his or her window(s), restricting nearby construction that would obstruct such a view or such illumination; the window(s) providing such an accustomed view or satisfactory illumination.

Noun

ancient lights pl (plural only)

  1. (plural, plural-only) The right, based in English common law, of a property owner to retain an accustomed, unobstructed view and satisfactory illumination from his or her window(s), restricting nearby construction that would obstruct such a view or such illumination; the window(s) providing such an accustomed view or satisfactory illumination.
    • It was reſolved by the Opinion of the aforeſaid Judges, That the Cuſtom of London will not enable a Man to erect a new Houſe upon a void Space of Ground, whereby the ancient Lights of an old Houſe are ſtopp'd up.1723, William Bohun, Privilegia Londini: Or, The Rights, Liberties, Privileges, Laws, and Customs, of the City of London, 3rd edition, page 103
    • If a house or wall is erected so near to mine that it stops my ancient lights, which is a private nuisance, I may enter my neighbour's land, and peaceably pull it down.1823, Sir William Blackstone (author), Vincent Wanostroch (editor), The British Constitution, or an Epitome of Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England, for the Use of Schools, p. 403 (Google...

Examples of ancient lights in a sentence

  • At home he might hang himself out of window, and nobody would mind much, provided he did not obstruct anybody's ancient lights or break away and injure any passer underneath.1900, Jerome K. Jerome, chapter 9, in Three Men on the Bummel:
  • Those who have successfully claimed the right to “ancient lights” down the years, understood this in a way today’s development-hungry councils do not.2013 February 26, Mary Dejevksy, “Don’t let the developers take your last civil right–the right to light”, in The Independent, UK...

Questions about ancient lights

What does ancient lights mean?
Ancient lights means the right, based in English common law, of a property owner to retain an accustomed, unobstructed view and satisfactory illumination from his or her window(s), restricting nearby construction that would obstruct such a view or such illumination; the window(s) providing such an accustomed view or satisfactory illumination.
How do you use ancient lights in a sentence?
At home he might hang himself out of window, and nobody would mind much, provided he did not obstruct anybody's ancient lights or break away and injure any passer underneath.
What part of speech is ancient lights?
Ancient lights is a noun.

Words near ancient lights in the dictionary

  1. Ancient Greece
  2. Ancient Greek
  3. Ancient Greeks
  4. ancient history
  5. Ancient Kangleipak
  6. ancient lights
  7. Ancient Macedonian
  8. ancient marineress
  9. ancient marineresses
  10. ancient monument
  11. ancient monuments

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ancient lights (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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