Sunshine is the light and warmth that comes directly from the sun. Sit in the sunshine, hours of sunshine, out of the sunshine.
It is distinct from sunlight in that sunshine means the direct beam falling on you, which is why weather reports count hours of sunshine rather than of light. In Britain it is also a friendly form of address.
1nounsunshineThe light and warmth that comes directly from the sun.
“We sat on the terrace and enjoyed the spring sunshine.”
sunshine is a light.
Sun plus shine, recorded in Middle English and among the oldest such compounds in the language.
Middle English
sunnesine
English, today
sunshine
In the Coverdale Bible in 1535, in Genesis and Exodus about 1250 as Middle English sunnesine; synchronically sun + shine. Compare isolated Old English sunsċīn (“mirror”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA