also: ほあかり
Refers to the light emitted by a lamp, torch, or similar flame-based light source. Often used in literary or descriptive contexts to evoke a warm, flickering light.
The room was lit only by lamplight and was very quiet.
In the distance, we could see the light of torches.
Standard kanji-kana mixed spelling for 'lamplight/torchlight'.
Variant spelling with 明り instead of 明かり; less common but acceptable.
Rare spelling using 火 (fire) instead of 灯 (lamp); may be encountered in older texts.
Rare variant combining 火 and 明り; not commonly used.
Alternate reading ほあかり; rare and possibly archaic. Included for search coverage.
Compound of 灯 (hi, 'lamp' or 'light') and 明かり (akari, 'light' or 'brightness'). The reading ひあかり is the standard kun'yomi combination. The alternate reading ほあかり uses the older or dialectal reading ほ for 灯/火.