Plural of lighter; portable devices for producing flame, or flat-bottomed boats used for loading and unloading ships in shallow water.
For the flame device: from 'light' meaning to ignite, with agent suffix '-er'. For the boat: from Middle Dutch 'lichter', from 'lichten' meaning to lighten or unload. Both senses developed independently in English by the 18th century.
The two meanings of 'lighter' represent a fascinating linguistic coincidence - the flame-producing device and the cargo boat share only spelling and pronunciation, not etymology. The boat 'lighter' comes from 'lighten' meaning to reduce weight, while the flame 'lighter' comes from 'light' meaning to ignite.
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