Is there a word for "the sunlight that streams into a room through the window, or a crack in the curtain or through a skylight"
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3This question has been asked before, but I can't seem to find it yet. In the meantime, closely related: English equivalent of komorebi (木漏れ日) — “sunshine filtering through leaves”– Mari-Lou ANov 21, 2015 at 16:55
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5 Answers
These are also called shafts of light
Shaft: 5. Something suggestive of a spear or arrow in appearance or configuration, as: a. A ray or beam of light.1
From Shakespeare: The Two Traditions:
A shaft of light falls on the scene as the young-looking Fortinbras enters...
1 American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
How about sunbeams or rays of sunlight? The meaning of these terms is a little broader than the specific context you're talking about, but I can't think of a better word.
Sunbeam here is defined as:
a beam, ray, or stream of sunlight.
answered Nov 21, 2015 at 16:31
Crepuscular ray, while technically a reference to twilight sun, is often used figuratively for rays of sunshine in other situations.
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1I don't think many ordinary native speakers of English know the word "crepuscular" unless they are weather enthusiasts. Feb 16, 2019 at 2:20
How about streaks of sunlight? Google Books
streak: a narrow band of light M-W
Alternately, you might want to consider streams and flickers [of sunlight]. Google Books
stream: a ray of light M-W
flicker: a wavering light M-W
bars, bands, and strips are also possible options. Ngram
An additional term is god rays, often used as a synonym of crepuscular rays in particular.
It is regularly used in the gaming industry to refer to the capability of a graphical engine to render volumetric lighting, by means of which light is seemingly scattered when travelling through non-solid objects (like air).
Although I believe it is commonly known in the CGI world, neither Merriam-Webster, Collins nor Dictionary.com have an entry for this term. Wikipedia's Sunbeams page seems to be the most prominent semi-authoritative website mentioning the phrase.
